Zelenskyy: Ukraine's presence in Turkey demonstrates desire to end the war
The mandate of the Ukrainian delegation in Turkey demonstrates Ukraine's readiness for a ceasefire, which cannot be said about the Russian delegation; sanctions should be an incentive for the Russian Federation to end the war, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"As for today's demonstration (of readiness to negotiate), or the level of delegations or decisions, I will emphasize once again: we may not even talk about the level of delegations if they have the opportunity to agree on something. We are all talking about the result," Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Ankara on Thursday.
He noted that Ukraine “demonstrates with its presence and its level” its desire to end the war.
"All of us who are here have a mandate. Institutionally ... to agree on steps that will lead to the end of the war," the Ukrainian president noted.
On the other hand, he said, “we understand what this level is.”
"A high level of delegation, leaders or some decisions. Something. If there is no such demonstration, it means that there is no readiness to talk about ending the war and making decisions," Zelenskyy emphasized.
He noted that this means that there is a lack of political will and, accordingly, "Russia does not feel that it needs to end this war."
"And this means that there is not enough political, economic and other pressure on the Russian Federation. Therefore, we ask: if there is no ceasefire, if there are no serious decisions, if there are no bilateral meetings ... we ask for appropriate sanctions that will be an incentive for a faster end to the war," the Ukrainian president summed up.