"Talk and work"

Selenskyj: Need a plan before meeting with Putin

Ukrainian President Selenskyj (left) and US Vice President Vance (right) at the Security Conference in Munich

(Bild: AFP/Tobias Schwarz)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has ruled out meetings with Russian negotiators for peace talks. He will only meet with ruler Vladimir Putin and only after drawing up a joint plan with US President Donald Trump.

As reported, Trump spoke to Putin on the phone on Wednesday and agreed to immediate negotiations on an end to the war in Ukraine. What these would look like and when they could officially begin is still unclear. Putin himself had recently rejected Zelenskyi as a negotiating partner, as his term of office had already expired. Ukrainian lawyers, however, believe that Zelensky's extended authority is covered by the law of war. Western governments also continue to recognize him as head of state.

Putin said that he would delegate people if Zelenskyi wanted to take part in the negotiations. Zelensky had previously said that these could only be conducted with a new Russian president. At the end of September 2022, he even declared negotiations with Putin invalid by decree following the Russian annexation of the Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.

Good conversation with Vance
At the Munich Security Conference, Selenskyj has now underlined his readiness for peace and discussed cooperation with one and a half dozen US senators from both parties. Among other things, they discussed arms cooperation and deposits of rare earths. He had a good conversation with US Vice President JD Vance, said Selenskyj. "We need to talk more, work more and prepare a plan to stop Putin".

The war in Ukraine has been going on for around three years. The USA has been the largest supplier of weapons to the Eastern European country.