Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he's prepared to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the fighting. "I was ready for the last two years," Zelensky told Fareed Zakaria in an interview on CNN. Negotiations are the only way to end the war, Zelensky said. At the same time, he warned that the price of failure could be a "third world war." The president also set limits on possible concessions. Ukraine won't concede its "territorial integrity and our sovereignty," per the Washington Post.
That applies to the issue of recognizing two separatist regions in the Donbas as independent, as Russia wants. "You cannot just demand from Ukraine to recognize some territories as independent republics," Zelensky said. "These compromises are simply wrong." Although he said he's appreciative of the aid his country has received from NATO, Zelensky expressed irritation on the subject of NATO membership, saying Russia wouldn't have attacked Ukraine if it was part of the alliance. Zelensky called for a clear decision from NATO about whether it will be invited to join. "You can’t force us to be in this limbo," he said.
"Russian forces have come to exterminate us, to kill us," Zelensky said in discussing whether to negotiate. Ukraine and its army have their dignity intact, he said, after successfully fighting back against the adversary. "But, unfortunately, our dignity is not going to preserve the lives" of innocent people, he said. So if there's even a 1% chance that sitting down with the Russians to negotiate can end the fighting, Zelensky said, "I think that we need to take this chance." The two sides have met four times so far since the invasion began. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)
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