Zelenskyy open to Russia peace talks but on Ukraine's terms

Kyiv's demands are non-starters for Moscow

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at a news conference in Kyiv. AP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested on Tuesday that he is willing to conduct peace talks with Russia while sticking to Kyiv's core demands, in a move that softens his refusal to negotiate with Moscow as long as President Vladimir Putin is in power.

There was a change in the Ukrainian president's rhetoric as he appealed to the international community to “force Russia into real peace talks”.

After Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions in September, Mr Zelenskyy signed a decree stating “the impossibility of holding talks” with Mr Putin.

However, it is unlikely Mr Zelenskyy's latest remarks will advance any talks, as the conditions he set will be non-starters for Moscow.

Mr Zelenskyy reiterated that his conditions for dialogue were the return of all of Ukraine’s occupied lands, compensation for war damage and the prosecution of war crimes. He did not specify how world leaders should coerce Russia into talks.

Western weapons and aid have been key to Ukraine’s ability to fight off Russia’s invasion, which some initially expected would tear through the country with relative ease.

This means Kyiv cannot ignore how the war is seen in the US and the European Union, said political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.

Antonov AN-225 destroyed by Russia in Ukraine — in pictures

The wreckage of an Antonov AN-225, the world's biggest aircraft, sits under a steel shelter at Gostomel airfield near Kyiv in April 2022. EPA

The cargo plane, named Mriya (which means Dream in Ukrainian), was destroyed during a heavy battle with Russian troops at the airfield earlier this year. Reuters

The Soviet-era plane was a symbol of Ukraine's identity and was cherished by aviation enthusiasts. AP

Poland's Minister of Interior and Administration Mariusz Kaminski stands near the heavily damaged plane on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

The Ukrainian plane had six engines, 32 wheels and wingspan that matched the length of a football pitch. AP

A Ukrainian man searches for unexploded explosives near the damaged plane. AP

The aircraft's role in the aviation industry took on greater significance amid the coronavirus pandemic, as it delivered tonne after tonne of vital aid to countries worldwide. AP

The Mriya entered commercial service in 2001 and was originally developed to transport the Energiya carrier-rocket and Buran space shuttle. AP

The aircraft could carry a maximum payload of 250,000 kilograms, and had a wingspan of 88 metres. Its size meant it could fit a helicopter or haulage lorry inside. AFP

Ukrainian soldiers stand in front of the destroyed plane. Reuters

The aircraft was more than seven metres longer than a Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental and 11 metres longer than the Airbus A380-800, the largest passenger plane. AFP

It was the only Antonov An-225 in the world. AP

A second version was in the making and reached about 70 per cent completion in the mid-2000s before progress was halted because of the cost involved. AP

Since its first flight in 1988, it claimed 242 world records, according to Antonov Airlines. AP

The Mriya touched down at Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport in May 2016 after visiting Perth in Australia to deliver a 117-tonne generator. AFP

The Mriya was so large that the length of its cargo hold was longer than the Wright brothers’ first flight, from take-off to landing. Reuters

It cost around $30,000 an hour to hire the plane. Reuters

“Zelenskyy is trying to manoeuvre because the promise of negotiations does not oblige Kyiv to anything, but it makes it possible to maintain the support of western partners,” said Mr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Centre independent think tank.

“A categorical refusal to hold talks plays into the Kremlin’s hands, so Zelenskyy is changing the tactics and talks about the possibility of a dialogue, but on conditions that make it all very clear.”

Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks in Belarus and Turkey early in the war, which is now nearing its nine-month mark, and Mr Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with Mr Putin — which the Kremlin brushed off.

The talks stalled after the last meeting of the delegations, held in Istanbul in March, yielded no results.

Mr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Kyiv has “repeatedly proposed [talks] and to which we always received crazy Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail”.

Ukraine war latest — in pictures

Smoke rises on the outskirts of the city during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters

Workers surround the Monument to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred with sandbags against damage from shelling in Mykolaiv. EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for talks before a meeting between the Russian president and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia. AFP

People take water from a water pump in Kyiv. EPA

A woman walks past a damaged building in the town of Nova Kakhovka. Reuters

A woman outside her home, which was destroyed during battles at the start of the conflict, in Yahidne, Chernihiv. Getty Images

People shelter inside a subway station during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters

Firefighters at the site of a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

A woman walks past the site of a Russian missile strike in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. Reuters

Rescuer workers at a building destroyed in an attack in Mykolaiv. Reuters

Parts of a drone lie on a street in Kyiv. Reuters

A drone flies over the Ukrainian capital during an attack. AFP

Ukrainian servicemen tow a captured Russian armoured vehicle in Rudneve village, Kharkiv. EPA

A partially destroyed residential building in Saltivka, in Kharkiv. AP

Ukrainian servicemen fire a captured Russian howitzer on a front line near Kupyansk city, Kharkiv. EPA

Ukrainian servicemen near the recently retaken town of Lyman in Donetsk region. AFP

An officer from a Ukrainian national police emergency demining team prepares to detonate collected anti-tank mines and explosives near Lyman, in the Donetsk region. AFP

A boy playing on a destroyed Russian tank on display in Kyiv. AFP

A young couple hiding underground during an air alert in Zaporizhzhia. AFP

Ukrainian firefighters looking for survivors after a strike in Zaporizhzhia. AFP

Workers fix a banner reading 'Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson - Russia!' to the State Historical Museum near Red Square in Moscow. AFP

Residents try to cross a destroyed bridge in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AFP

Alyona Kishinskaya helps to clean up a shop as it prepares to reopen in Balakiya, Ukraine, after a six-month Russian occupation. Getty Images

Alla, 12, has a swinging time in Balakiya, Ukraine, as life goes on despite the war. Getty Images

Ukrainian flags in the town square in Balakiya. Getty Images

A destroyed Russian command centre in Izium, Ukraine. Getty Images

In what may be a final farewell, young Russian recruits - escorted by their wives - walk to a train station in Volgograd before being sent to war in Ukraine. AP

Russian recruits board the train to Ukraine in Volgograd. AP

Ukrainian soliders drive a tank at the recently retaken eastern side of the Oskil River in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. AFP

Volunteers pass boxes of food aid on a destroyed bridge over the Oskil River. AFP

Ukrainian soliders rest on an armoured personnel carrier. AFP

A sign warns of landmines in Izyum, eastern Ukraine. AFP

This crater was left after a missile strike in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. AFP

Russia resumed calls for talks after it started losing ground to a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the east and south in September.

Mr Zelenskyy rejected the possibility of negotiating with Mr Putin later that month after the Russian leader illegally claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory.

The Ukrainian president said on Monday that his country's conditions for dialogue included the “restoration of [Ukraine’s] territorial integrity … compensation for all war damage, punishment for every war criminal and guarantees that it will not happen again”.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, said on Tuesday that Moscow was not setting any conditions for the resumption of talks. He accused Kyiv of lacking “good will”.

“This is their choice. We have always declared our readiness for such negotiations,” Mr Rudenko said.

Putin's inner circle — in pictures

Head of Russia's SVR intelligence service Sergei Naryshkin has seen his status eroded by the strong resistance encountered in Ukraine, which he did not foresee. EPA

Head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin has threatened to abandon a Nasa astronaut on the International Space Station. AFP

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was one of the architects of Moscow's intervention in Syria. AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Russia's oil giant Rosneft chief Igor Sechin. He has been described as Mr Putin's right-hand man. AFP

Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev attends a meeting in Moscow. He is said to have known Mr Putin for 50 years. AFP

Sergei Ivanov, Russian special representative on questions of ecology and transport, is a close friend of Mr Putin. AFP

Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov is responsible for a huge network of agents in Russia. AFP

At 58, president of the Duma Lower House of Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin is one of the younger members of the inner circle. He has been touted as a possible successor to Mr Putin. AFP

Mr Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that the US is preventing Ukraine from engaging in peace talks, which several countries have offered to mediate.

In an interview released on Tuesday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said western countries would not push Kyiv to negotiate on Moscow’s terms.

“Ukraine is receiving rather effective weapons from its partners, first and foremost the US,” Mr Podolyak said.

“We’re pushing the Russian army out of our territory. And given that, it’s nonsense to force us to negotiate, and de facto to concede to Russia’s ultimatum! No one will do that.”

Military footage shows Ukraine soldiers dismantling Russian flags in a liberated area — video