Speaking to journalists, Volodymyr Zelensky stated that military issues in the Ukraine-Russia negotiations are on a constructive path, while territorial matters remain contentious. Specifically, Ukraine expects the next round of talks to take place in February, he told journalists in a WhatsApp group. Kyiv also hopes that details regarding the next prisoner of war exchange with Russia will be agreed upon in the coming days, the Ukrainian president added.
Read: Zelensky: Russia and Ukraine “close to document” on ceasefire monitoring (Video)
Zelensky: “We stand where we stand”
In an interview with Japanese news agency Kyodo, excerpts of which were published on the Ukrainian president’s Telegram channel, Zelensky stated: “We are ready for real compromises. But not for compromises at the cost of our independence and sovereignty. We are ready to talk about compromises with the United States. But not to accept ultimatums from the Russians again and again. They are the invader,” Zelensky declared, adding: “For this very reason, it is already our compromise that we are talking to the invader about compromises. ‘We stand where we stand’ is a significant compromise. They have occupied almost 20% of our territory. And we are ready to talk about peace now, based on the principle of ‘we stand where we stand’. It is a significant compromise.”
In his interview with the Japanese news agency, the Ukrainian president estimated that the number of North Korean soldiers on the Ukrainian front reaches 10,000.
Earlier, in his interview with Axios on the eve of the third round of US-Russia-Ukraine talks, Zelensky said he believed this option – “we stand where we stand” – could be supported by the majority of Ukrainian citizens in a referendum, if such a referendum were held.
