Zelenskyy: Negotiations in Istanbul in 2022 fail due to ultimatums from Russian side
The Istanbul negotiations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation in 2022 were not successful due to the ultimatums of the Russian side, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
"Since ultimatums are not negotiations," Zelenskyy said at the final press conference at the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, answering the question why the peace talks in Istanbul in 2022 failed.
According to the Ukrainian President, "with these ultimatums, Putin arrived in a tank during a full-scale invasion, surrounded our capital, and occupied many regions of our country."
He stressed that the position of the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin does not change and "there were a lot of different ultimatums," including the latest proposals.
"And ultimatums give him the opportunity to make a pause. To be honest, the Minsk agreements were an ultimatum, and the conflict was frozen, and this is a fact. He needed this pause to prepare for a full-scale invasion," Zelenskyy said.
As reported, the NYT has recently published the full text of the draft documents that were discussed at the talks first in Belarus and then in Istanbul in March-April 2022.