Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s and the United States’ negotiating teams had failed to reach consensus on territorial issues during ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the war against Russia.
According to Zelensky, points considered sensitive, such as control of the Donetsk region and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, were not resolved during technical negotiations and must be discussed directly between the leaders.
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— No consensus has been reached with the American side regarding the territory of the Donetsk region and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, — the president said. And he added: “We seek to meet with the United States at the heads of state level to address these sensitive issues.
Zelensky did not specify whether this dialogue would include Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian leader, however, indicated that he was set to meet with the Kremlin leader, as part of diplomatic efforts to advance a possible peace plan.
Ukraine as a NATO member
It will be exclusively up to NATO to decide whether or not to accept Ukraine as a member, without kyiv making a prior legal commitment to renounce this possibility.
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— The decision to join NATO rests with the alliance itself and our position remains unchanged. We do not renounce the Ukrainian Constitution and we will not agree to amend it to declare that the country will not join NATO — the president said in statements made this Wednesday (24).
Zelensky recalled that a previous version of the plan, drawn up by Washington, provided for Ukraine to legally commit not to aspire to join the Atlantic alliance, a requirement deemed unacceptable by kyiv and consistent with the conditions imposed by the Kremlin.
Still speaking to journalists, including the AFP agency, Zelensky said that the document sent to Russia explicitly establishes the holding of elections after the end of the conflict.
— The text stipulates that Ukraine must hold elections as soon as possible after signing the agreement, — said the president.
Ukrainian presidential elections have been suspended since the start of the war, due to martial law in force in the country. The possible resumption of the electoral process is conditional on the normalization of the security situation and the formal end of hostilities.
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