Ukraine conflict will end only through diplomacy: Zelensky
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (file photo)
Kyiv: President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Satuderya that the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv could only be resolved through diplomacy, while talks to damp down tensions between the two remain stalemate, Agence France-Presse reported.
Zelensky said the war would be bloody and fighting would continue but "will only definitively end through diplomacy".
He said that discussions between the two powers would continue, but he is not sure about on what level, whether through intermediaries or in a larger group or at the presidential level.
Zelensky said that certain issues could be resolved only through negotiations and Ukraine everything to return as it was before the conflict, to which Russia does not concur. He added that the results of negotiations must turn in favour of Ukraine.
Further, he talked about a document of security guarantees for Ukraine. The document will be signed by acquaintances of Ukraine but not Moscow. However, a bilateral discussion would be held in Russia at the same time, he said.
He mentioned once again Kyiv's firm precondition to continue talks that Russia must not kill Ukrainian troops of Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
He said that Russian forces had offered to let these Ukrainian soldiers leave Azovstal alive. What is important to him the most is saving the maximum number of Ukraine's people and soldiers, he said.
Russia has claimed that 2,439 Ukrainians have surrendered at the Azovstal since May 16, including a 500 on Friday.
Chief Ukraine negotiator Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Tuesday that talks are at a halt, while the same was taking place regularly earlier, though without results.
However, Russia's Dmitry Peskov accused Kyiv the next day of not cooperating in continuing talks. The last session of talks took place on April 22, Russian news houses reported.
Meanwhile, Russian troops are now focusing on the eastern parts of Ukraine at the moment, unleashing fierce clashes after it failed to take Kyiv earlier.