প্রকাশ: 22/03/2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed an offer of
direct peace talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin late Monday,
declaring the status of disputed territories could be up for debate and a
possible referendum.
Zelensky told local media that he was ready to meet Putin
"in any format" to discuss ending the almost one-month-old war that
has shattered several Ukrainian cities.
Zelensky said even the status of Russian-occupied Crimea and
Russian-backed statelets in Donbas was up for debate.
"At the first meeting with the president of Russia, I
am ready to raise these issues," he said.
"There will be no appeals or historical speeches. I would
discuss all issues with him in great detail" Zelensky said.
Russia has declared Crimea part of Russia and recognised the
independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk
People's Republic in eastern Ukraine.
All three areas were part of Ukraine following the collapse
of the Soviet Union and are at the centre of a decade-old crisis that on
February 24 spilt into invasion and full-scale war.
"If I have this opportunity and Russia has the desire,
we would go through all the questions," he told Ukrainian journalists in
an interview published by media outlet Suspilne.
"Would we solve them all? No. But there is a chance,
that we partially could -- at least to stop the war," he added.
Although Zelensky signalled that he was willing to talk about
the status of the three areas, he has repeatedly insisted all three were part
of Ukraine and that his country would not surrender.
Zelensky also warned that any peace agreement involving
"historic" changes would be put to a national referendum.
Sonia Mycak, a Ukraine expert at the Australian National
University said the promise of a popular vote likely dooms any suggestion of
Kyiv ceding territory.
"The vast majority, like 80 percent, of Ukrainians are
saying that they do not want to relinquish" those territories, Mycak said,
citing two recent public opinion polls.
"I think it would be rejected by the population, I
really do. Very high numbers of Ukrainians are saying 'we should not stop
fighting'," she added.
"Ukrainians see themselves as under existential threat.
It's not just the loss of territory it's the fact that they would have to live
as Russians, there would be heavy Russification, there would be autocratic
control."
A month of talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials
have so far failed to stop or even slow a war that has forced 3.5 million
Ukrainians to leave the country.
But with Russia's much-larger military seemingly unable to
occupy the entire country or topple Zelensky's ever-more-popular government,
the Ukrainian leader said the war was inevitably going to end at the
negotiating table.
"It is impossible not to have a solution. By destroying
us, he is definitely destroying himself," Zelensky said of Putin.
"I do not want us to go down in history as heroes and
as a nation that does not exist... And if they destroy themselves, they won't
even have any heroism left."
প্রধান সম্পাদকঃ সৈয়দ বোরহান কবীর
ক্রিয়েটিভ মিডিয়া লিমিটেডের অঙ্গ প্রতিষ্ঠান
বার্তা এবং বাণিজ্যিক কার্যালয়ঃ ২/৩ , ব্লক - ডি , লালমাটিয়া , ঢাকা -১২০৭
নিবন্ধিত ঠিকানাঃ বাড়ি# ৪৩ (লেভেল-৫) , রোড#১৬ নতুন (পুরাতন ২৭) , ধানমন্ডি , ঢাকা- ১২০৯
ফোনঃ +৮৮-০২৯১২৩৬৭৭