“Ultimatum from a killer”: Zelensky explained why negotiations with Russia in Istanbul failed

According to Zelensky, Russia wanted Ukraine to completely get rid of its long-range weapons.

During the negotiations in Istanbul, Russia demanded that Ukraine appoint pro-Russian former Verkhovna Rada deputy Viktor Medvedchuk as the country’s leader.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about this during an interview with representatives of the International Media Council.

He emphasized that the Russian Federation also demanded that Donbass be completely transferred under Moscow’s control, and Ukraine must recognize this by amending the Constitution. Another demand of Russia was to reduce the size of the Ukrainian army to 50 thousand people and vote for the country’s neutral status. It was separately mentioned that the Russian language should become the state language.

In addition, during the negotiations in Istanbul, the Russian side wanted Ukraine to eliminate all its weapons with a range of more than 20 kilometers.

“There are no Turkish negotiations, only an ultimatum from a murderer whose last name is Putin,” Zelensky commented on Moscow’s demands.

According to the president, Belarus and Türkiye wanted to influence the course of negotiations, but Russia ruined everything with its demands.

“Therefore, we cannot say that we had any negotiations, since all three times there were ultimatums from Putin,” Zelensky summed up.

(C)UNIAN 2025