KIEV, December 2. /TASS/. There will be no progress in efforts to resolve the Donbass conflict without dialogue with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in a video statement on Facebook on Monday.
"You know, we could do without dialogue but it would be like using a running machine — you are running in place and there is no movement forward. We don’t want to run in place, we would like all this to end," Zelensky pointed out.
He emphasized that his participation in the upcoming summit of the Normandy Four countries (Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine), set to take place in Paris on December 9, wouldn’t be "treason against the people." According to Zelensky, the very meeting is "a victory."
Zelensky addressed the Ukrainian people, asking them not to trust politicians who criticized the upcoming talks, and pointed out that there was no alternative to resolving the conflict through diplomatic means. "Don’t believe anyone, no one can achieve anything through war, no one wants to waste hundreds of thousands of lives. Diplomacy is the only way," the Ukrainian president stressed.
Trusting 'no one'
No one can be trusted in politics, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview with a Polish daily.
"I don’t trust anyone in politics," Zelensky said in an interview with the Gazeta Wyborcza, when asked whether he trusted Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I liked mathematics at school, everything was clear there. You are solving equations with one or two unknowns. Meanwhile, here everything is unknown, including our country, politicians in our country. I have come from business, and I believe that there can be no trust here [in politics]. Instead, everybody has their own interests," the Ukrainian leader added.