GENEVA, April 24. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky's attempts to sabotage the negotiations initiated by the new US administration to achieve peace in Ukraine will have dire consequences for the Ukrainian people, said Roger Koppel, editor-in-chief of Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche.
"And if Ukraine simply refuses [to recognize Crimea as Russian], if Zelensky sabotages these [US efforts to achieve] peace, this will have terrible consequences, not least for the country's population," the journalist said.
In his opinion, Zelensky is taking a "completely unrealistic position" in these negotiations, preventing Russia from recognizing the territories it has liberated. The journalist believes that this issue will eventually come to the forefront for the country. Koppel further doubted that Ukrainian support for Zelensky is as high as has been reported.
"If Zelensky's support was as high as he wants to think, why is he banning the opposition parties, why is he allowing the arrest of clergy and journalists, why is he not holding elections?" the journalist noted.
Earlier, the British government said that negotiations on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine at the level of foreign ministers scheduled for Wednesday in London, had been postponed. The meeting took place between lower-level officials. The United States was represented by Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg. According to The Daily Telegraph, the United States was supposed to present a seven-point settlement plan, including Washington's recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea.
Zelensky rejected it the day before, after which, as The New York Times pointed out, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided not to go to the UK. This set off a kind of domino effect, as the foreign ministers of Great Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine also refused to participate.