Volodymyr Zelensky is open to peace talks with Russia if all territory is reclaimed, source says

Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to negotiate with Vladimir Putin if Kiev’s troops can recapture all of his territory seized during the invasion.

Zelensky signed a decree in September to rule out peace talks. But a senior government source said the “idea is to push the Russians back to the so-called February 23 borders, then we can negotiate.”

With the country’s population overwhelmingly opposed to talks with Russia, the source added: “But if you write this, we will deny it. There is no politician in Ukraine who will consider saying this.’ The confession comes amid renewed urging by Joe Biden and the US to find diplomatic solutions, indicating that Mr Zelensky may not have full Western support to take back Crimea and Donbas by force.

According to one source, the country’s population is overwhelmingly against all talks with Russia

NBC News said diplomacy efforts could be stepped up this winter. “Everything slows down in the winter,” NBC quoted a Western official as saying. ‘We would like to see the potential for conversations.’

Ukrainian forces have succeeded in reclaiming large parts of the northeast region of Kharkov and are approaching the southern city of Kherson after Russia announced its withdrawal.

Polls by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology have regularly shown that 87% of Ukrainians strongly oppose territorial concessions.

Such negotiations would also depend on the Russian tyrant ending his indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Ukrainian cities, something Kiev’s western allies do not appear to be doing.

But the source admitted that “the cost would be too high” in terms of casualties inflicted on the Ukrainian military if they tried to regain both occupied regions.

“Taking a big city like Donetsk would be a bloodbath,” said the top assistant.