Zelenskyy says talks 'only option' to end war; rules out 'personal meeting' with Putin
Lviv (Ukraine), April 5: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday said that Ukraine had no option but to negotiate with Russia to end the war, but he and Russian President Vladimir Putin might not personally hold talks.
Zelenskyy also accused Russian troops of carrying out extra-judicial killings in Bucha west of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. The Ukrainian President had said that the deaths of dozens of people in the town of Bucha outside the capital of Kiev reclaimed from Russian forces will be deemed as "genocide" by international leaders.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, however, said that the reports of civilian killings in Bucha were "fake" and aimed at discrediting Russia. Moscow further said it would present "empirical evidence" to a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday proving its troops were not involved.
"All of us, including myself, will perceive even the possibility of negotiations as a challenge," said Zelenskyy in an interview with Ukrainian journalists broadcast on national television, according to Reuters.
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"The challenge is internal, first of all, one's own, human challenge. Then, when you pull yourself together, and you have to do it, I think that we have no other choice," he added, as per the report.
He also said the events in Bucha were unforgivable but Ukraine and Russia should take the difficult option of pursuing talks, and hinted that Moscow should admit what its forces were alleged to have done.
Talking about whether he (Zelenskyy) and Putin would hold direct talks, the Ukrainian President said it was possible this would not happen but gave no details.
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-PTC News
