MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had his chance to make peace with Russia, and he totally blew it, Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the Other Ukraine movement and former leader of the Opposition Platform - For Life party banned in Ukraine, told TASS in an interview.
"The appearance of such signals (from Ukraine about the possibility of talks - TASS) changes little in the real political situation both inside Ukraine and in its international policy. Zelensky is sending these signals because that's what his Western masters are telling him to do, as well as because of the potential change of leadership in the United States. But in reality, Zelensky and crew blew their chance at peace talks in the spring of 2022, when Ukraine withdrew from the Istanbul agreements and after that ignored [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's proposals for a peace settlement in June 2024. This government will not get any more chances," Medvedchuk said.
"With politicians like Zelensky, you have to pay attention to what he does, not what he says," the politician pointed out. "In Ukraine itself, no one is allowed to speak about peace under threat of severe penalties and criminal prosecution. Zelensky killed the real opposition and suppressed dissent in the country. Today, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) imprisons completely apolitical citizens simply for questioning the rationale of the war policy. They have already put everyone who wants peace in jail. What change of policy inside Ukraine can we talk about?" he emphasized.
According to Medvedchuk, Zelensky is using his old strategy in foreign policy: "feigning agreement on everything, but doing nothing." "Western curators have set him the task of placating China and other countries of the Global South. So that's what he is trying to do, promising them the world," the politician underscored. Naturally, he will not deliver on any of it, that’s not his style," he stressed.
"It is Zelensky's power that is an obstacle to achieving peace both in Ukraine and in Europe. And everyone needs to understand this," Medvedchuk emphasized.
On June 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the Foreign Ministry set out the country’s conditions for settling the situation in Ukraine. Among them are the withdrawal of the Ukrainian armed forces from Donbass and Novorossiya and Kiev's refusal to join NATO. In addition, Russia wants all Western sanctions against it lifted and demands that Ukraine commit to a non-aligned and nuclear-free status. Putin indicated that if Ukraine and the West refuse these conditions, they could change in the future. Kiev rejected the Russian peace plan.