Russians delaying negotiation process – Zelenskyy
The Russians understand that the so-called "memorandum" is an ultimatum that Ukraine cannot accept, and Russia also understands that it is delaying the negotiation process, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"The Russian ultimatum that they handed over, the so-called memorandum - they themselves understand that they handed over to us. They themselves understand that we cannot accept the ultimatum. When they were near Kyiv, in the most difficult situation for us, this ultimatum came from them. But now we are not in the same conditions and not in the same difficulties that we were in at the beginning of the war. This does not mean that there is no fatigue. There is another thing: the Russians definitely understand that they are simply delaying the negotiation process," Zelenskyy said during a meeting with journalists on Friday.
According to the president, the Russians have understood that the exchanges are going well, "they are returning their own, giving ours."
"In principle, they (the Russians) have something positive for themselves here. For them, this is normal, this is delaying the process and this gives them the opportunity, thanks to the voices that support them in the US, to give a signal to the White House not to impose sanctions," the president noted.
He added that Russia is playing a game with the Middle East, China, Brazil, etc., "showing everyone: look, we are for talks, we just cannot find an understanding with Ukraine yet, because Ukrainians do not want to compromise, which is not true."
"Because an ultimatum is not a compromise," Zelenskyy stressed.