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While the Western pressure on the Kremlin is intensifying and the Ukrainian president calls his Russian counterpart for a one-on-one meeting, Putin according to the BBC appears to be closer to agreeing to direct talks with Volodymyr Zelensky.
However, the Russian advance continues with shelling of populated areas and the tragic death toll rising.
Ukraine's deputy prime minister, Olia Stefanishina, reminds that Ukraine will not cede any part of its land to Russia.
According to the BBC, however, the Russian president will agree to have direct talks while under international pressure.
"I am ready for negotiations with Putin If they fail, we will have World War III."
Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier in a message that he is ready to negotiate with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. However, he did not hesitate to say that if there was "bad news" from the negotiations, it could mean that the struggle between the two countries would lead to "a third world war."
"I am ready for negotiations with him. I have been ready for the last two years. And I believe that without negotiations we cannot end this war," he said, speaking to CNN.
"If there is even a 1 percent chance to stop this war, I think we should take this opportunity (to negotiate). We have to do that. I can tell you about the outcome of these negotiations - however, in any case, we are losing people on a daily basis, innocent people on the ground," he further noted. He went on to say that Russian forces have come to annihilate us, to kill us.
"We can prove that we are able to deliver a strong blow, we are able to fight back. But, unfortunately, our dignity is not going to preserve our lives. So I think we have to use every form, every opportunity in order to have the possibility of negotiating, the possibility of talking to Putin. But if these efforts fail, it would mean that this is a third world war," the Ukrainian president added.
Source: Proto Thema
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