In an interview with CNN, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the possibility of compromise with Vladimir Putin and said that the war would not have a "happy ending."
Responding to calls for peace talks and a compromise with Moscow, Zelenskyy said that Russia itself is not ready to compromise.
He cited the example of other countries that have suffered from the aggression of the Russian military:
"Have you seen any compromise from Putin on other issues? With Georgia? With Moldova?"
The Ukrainian president also recalled the death of the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevhen Prygozhyn, two months after the coup attempt. According to Zelenskyy, Prygozhyn was killed despite the promises and guarantees of security given to him.
"When you want to compromise or have a dialogue with someone, you should not do it with a liar," he said.
"Putin – he wants to take over our entire country, destroy all our families, homes. [...] He understands that Ukraine will never retreat, will never leave its land. We will never do that. That's why he thinks he has to kill us," the Ukrainian president added.
Commenting on Ukraine's counteroffensive, Zelensky said:
"We all want to succeed and get a happy ending. But this is not a movie with a happy ending, we will not have a happy ending, we have lost many people. There will be no happy ending. We have to recognize that."
Background. In August, Foreign Minister Kuleba said that we would never see Zelenskyy and Putin at the negotiating table. Kyiv will not meet with Putin because he is involved in war crimes.