Poroshenko warns Zelensky about the risk of being left without US and EU support
Actor Volodymyr Zelensky, who is currently the front-runner in the presidential elections in Ukraine, could jeopardize relations between Kyiv and the rest of the world, announced the incumbent president Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, speaking on ICTV.
"His first statements begin with " I [Volodymyr Zelensky] will negotiate with the leaders. He did not say if they are the so-called LPR and DPR. What does this mean? This means that Russia is no longer an aggressor and there is no need to impose sanctions against Russia. And the negotiations with these mercenaries sends a message to the world that it is a civil war in the middle of Ukraine,” said Poroshenko.
Poroshenko reproached Zelensky for not mentioning Ukraine’s international partners. “Where are our partners of the Normandy format, where is the European Union, the United States? If you move forward and remain without allies, everything that has been previously done collapses. As if saying that the Minsk agreements do not suit us. However, all the sanctions are based on them, and if Ukraine itself withdraws from them, then there will be no sanctions or instruments of pressure [on Russia],” said Poroshenko.
Earlier, Zelensky expressed his readiness to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict in the Donbas. The showman stressed that the meeting should take place in the presence of the "Western representatives." At the same time, he noted that “Ukraine should have permanent integrity” in future negotiations with Putin.
Zelensky also developed a plan to end the conflict in the Donbas. According to him, the first step is to stop the clashes and shelling on both sides, and then to resume social payments to the residents of the region by the Ukrainian authorities.