President Volodymyr Zelenskyi saidthat it is important for the United States not to agree to Russia's additional conditions for a ceasefire, and that US President Donald Trump's position towards Russia should be harsh if it does not agree to his proposal for a 30-day silence.
«Today, several partners said that regarding the ceasefire, the most important thing for us, not for America, not for anyone, is not to go to the Russian "but". 30 days is not an eternity, it is 30 days, where all sides are given the opportunity to demonstrate speed and desire to end the war or vice versa... We agreed on how we see it. I think that in the coming days we will have coordination with the US on the next steps. If the Russians do not agree with President Trump's position, we very much believe that President Trump's position will be clear, tough, direct towards Putin," Zelensky said.
Commenting on the visit of US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff to Moscow, Zelensky noted that Ukraine cannot know 100% exactly what was discussed there.
"But we understand that there will be many different "buts" to put Ukraine in a weaker situation. And here America's position is very important. If the ceasefire is complete, then without any "buts". Everyone's position should be clear, transparent, truthful, without losing the dignity of the parties," - he said.
Zelensky also believes that the ceasefire could last more than 30 days, but during this time an agreement on the next steps to end the war needs to be reached.
"Maybe not 30 days, maybe a little more will be needed. But it is very important that there is some kind of term in the agreements on silence. Then this will reduce the opportunities for the Russians to play in an eternal frozen conflict.", the president noted.
According to him, the issue of control over the territories is "complicated" and should be resolved later through negotiations, and he would not advise linking this issue to the first step, "because this is dragging out the process for a long time."
Zelensky said that at the meeting in Saudi Arabia, US representatives did not set additional conditions for Ukraine to end the war.
"There were no additional conditions at the meeting in Saudi Arabia. Because everyone was really happy in a human way, that firstly, the two countries were together, this is a serious step forward. Secondly, that Ukraine took such a serious diplomatic step. And everyone was also very happy. Let America now force Putin to take the first step. Then we will discuss all the other steps," - he said.
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