President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that in 2022 he enacted a National Security and Defence Council decision to ban negotiations with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin to stop separatism, as the Russians were trying to put pressure on Ukraine through "many different corridors" that Ukraine could not control.

Source:Zelenskyy at a press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Kyiv on Saturday

Quote:"Regarding whether we can talk or not [with Putin - ed.]. The decision of the National Security and Defence Council, why did I sign this decree? Because Putin immediately established a wide range of channels to affect Ukraine, our independence, and me directly, in collaboration with separatists and officials from other states. There were various conversations and shadowy political corridors.

I quickly stopped it, I simply stopped separatism in our country by forbidding anyone, any political figures in Ukraine, to hold any negotiations with the Russian side, with Putin's supporters during the war.

I immediately put an end to it, hampering separatism in our country by preventing anyone, any Ukrainian political figures, from negotiating with the Russian side or Putin's supporters during the war. This happened when their troops were in Kyiv Oblast. And they were doing that by applying pressure through a variety of channels, including the parliamentary corps, our citizenry, the parliamentary corps of our European counterparts, and the United States. There were numerous negotiation platforms. I just realised that we and our bodies couldn't control it. So I made quite a reasonable decision. I am the president of Ukraine, and I lead all the negotiations. I have forbidden everyone else from interfering with the negotiations."

Details: Zelenskyy noted that Putin "does not like this because he had many channels".

Quote: "There are channels that everyone knows about, because the people involved were arrested, and then we exchanged them for our soldiers [most likely the president is referring to Viktor Medvedchuk - ed.], and they also used other channels. Even in some of our institutions, which I am not yet ready to talk about publicly. That's why the decision was made."

Background: 

• On 4 October 2022, Zelenskyy implemented the decision of the National Security and Defence Council to not negotiate with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
• The text said that the NSDC had decided to "state the impossibility of holding talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin". It did not specify who exactly was banned from holding the talks.
• Russians have repeatedly criticised this decision and demanded that it be reconsidered. In particular, on 24 January 2025, Putin announced his desire to meet with US President Donald Trump to "discuss issues that are of interest to Moscow and Washington". In the context of the possibility of negotiating an end to the war, the Russian leader also recalled Zelenskyy's decree banning negotiations with Russia. Putin said that the international partners sponsoring Ukraine should force Zelenskyy to cancel his decree.

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