Russia’s RIA news agency says Zelensky has invited Putin for talks

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr ZelenskyThe President of Russia called, Russian President Vladimir PutinFor negotiations, according to the Russian news agency RIA. “I would like to appeal to the President of the Russian Federation again. Let us sit down at the negotiating table to prevent people from being killed,” the Ukrainian reportedly said. On the morning of Friday, the 25th of this month, the adviser to the Ukrainian president reinforced the message. Mykhailo Podolyak who stated, in a letter to Reuters news agency, that Ukraine wants peace and is ready to negotiate, including on the neutral status quo towards the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): “If negotiations are possible, they should be conducted outside. If they say in Moscow that they want talks , including about the neutral situation, we are not afraid of it (…) Our willingness to dialogue is part of our constant search for peace.”

Earlier this Friday, it was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow that Russia was also ready to negotiate.but as a condition that Armed Forces of Ukraine lay down their arms. According to him, after that, people living in Ukraine will be able to “determine their future without any external pressure.” Ukraine is not currently part of either NATO or the European Union, although it wants to join both. The situation is considered one of the reasons for the Russian invasion of the country, as Putin wants to keep Western influence away from its borders. Despite this, after Ukraine gained independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from European countries.