Putin is not ready to meet Zelenskyy until his demands are met

Europe, Middle East, News March 19, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

A senior Turkish official in a recent interview stated that Russian President Putin is not ready to carry out direct presidential level talks with his Ukrainian counterpart at this moment.

The Chief Adviser and Spokesman for Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin stated that “Zelensky is ready to meet, but Putin thinks that the positions to have this meeting at the leaders’ level are not close enough yet.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to carry out face-to-face bilateral talks to achieve a tangible solution for the ongoing war in Ukraine. He stated that a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders involved in this conflict is the “only way to stop this war”.

A possible mediation venue for such talks is Turkey. Despite being a NATO member, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been keeping a neutral role to mediate between the two sides.

*^{Russian President Vladimir Putin with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (Image Credit: Kremlin Presidential Press and Information Office)}*

President Putin and President Erdogan held a phone call regarding the matter on March 17. The Russian President laid out his demands that he thinks are essential for a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.

According to the Turkish officials, it would not be really hard for the Ukrainian leadership to meet some of Putin’s basic demands. The most prominent among these demands is that Ukraine must accept it would not become a part of the NATO alliance. The Ukrainian President has already stated that he does not see Ukraine joining the NATO alliance any time soon. Keeping this under consideration, it becomes quite easy for Ukraine to satisfy Russia over its concerns of NATO forces crossing Ukrainian borders to move eastwards.

Similarly, Putin has asked for Ukraine to ensure the disarmament of the country, protection of the Russian language, and de-Nazification of Ukraine.

Further demands from President Putin were focused on the territorial disputes of the Donbas and Crimea region. These were deemed ‘complicated but not impossible’ by the Turkish officials. President Putin also stated that before any face-to-face meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy takes place, all his demands must be met to his satisfaction.

^{Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba meet at Antalya Diplomacy Forum. (Image Credit: Turkish Foreign Ministry)}

The delegations from the two warring states have carried out several talks and dialogues without achieving any substantial result. The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine also met in Turkey last week in a meeting that was facilitated by the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum. So far, the two sides have only been able to achieve minor success to determine cease-fire windows and humanitarian corridors for the civilian evacuation of some Ukrainian cities.

While stating further on the matter, Ibrahim Kalin said that President Putin does not advocate replacing the Ukrainian President anymore. Kalin stated that Putin has now “accepted the fact that Zelensky is the President of Ukrainian people, whether he likes it or not.” He further stated that a meeting between the two leaders can take place, but he does not see that happening in the immediate future.

“There will be a peace deal at some point. Of course, we all want this to happen sooner rather than later, but probably Putin thinks that he wants to be in a position of strength when he does that, and not appear to be weak, weakened by either military losses or by the economic sanctions,” Turkish president’s advisor Kalin said.