PRESS RELEASE : Victory can be achieved only in battle, and fixing the end of the war will still be diplomatic – Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 21 May 2022.

Ukraine can win the war with Russia only on the battlefield, but the final dot will still be put at the negotiating table, because that is the only way to settle many difficult issues. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with the host of the United News telethon.

The Head of State noted that even today he can repeat the words he said three years ago after his election as President of Ukraine: we did not start this war, but we have to end it. However, the meaning of these words has changed.

“I really thought that the war could end with dialogue. But, unfortunately, I thought that this was a dialogue with the appropriate timing, that it would be possible to find answers to many questions and many decisions with the Russian side. I really thought so. And now it is a hybrid. That is why the war is so difficult. And the victory will be very difficult. It will be bloody, it will be in battle, but the end will definitely be in diplomacy,” the President explained.

At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is convinced that the end of the war will still lie in the diplomatic sphere, because there are a number of issues that can be resolved only at the negotiating table.

“We want everything back. And the Russian Federation doesn’t want to return anything. That’s why the ending will be at the negotiating table,” he said.

The Head of State also noted that the specific purpose and agenda of his future meeting with the Russian President, which is inevitable for registration of the end of the war, will depend on the moment when it will take place.

“Everything changes. There is a hybrid war, honestly, there will be a hybrid peace as well. And hybrid meetings. For example, if we met today, the issue of Mariupol would also be on the agenda. If we meet in two or three months, maybe this issue will not be on the agenda, or maybe it will. We don’t know,” he said.

At the same time, the President of Ukraine stressed that in any case the issues of the end of the war and the establishment of peace, deoccupation of Ukrainian territories, exchange and return home of Ukrainian military and civilians should be resolved at the negotiating table.

“A lot depends on us, but a lot depends on Russia, too. Without talking to them, we must then state the result we have. We want the territories back and this war to be over. But how and when it will happen depends on the time when the conversation with Putin will take place. I think that the conversation between Ukraine and Russia will definitely take place. But we don’t know in what format: with or without intermediaries, in a wide circle or in the format of bilateral conversation,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.