Ukraine saw no way to negotiate peace with Putin even before ICC warrant – Ukraine's Foreign Minister

Ukraine has realised that there was no point in talking to the Russian president long before the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Vladimir Putin's arrest.

Source: Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, in an interview with Politico

Quote: "We knew long before the ICC arrest warrant that talking to Putin made no sense. Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council adopted a legal resolution on 30 September of last year, declaring that any negotiations with Vladimir Putin were impossible in response to Russia’s attempted annexation of additional Ukrainian territories [Russia held so-called "referendums" on 23-27 September 2022 in the occupied territories of four Ukrainian oblasts – ed.]."

Details: At the same time, Kuleba said Ukraine does not reject the idea of negotiations outright. However, he cautioned against any idea that talking to Putin personally could ensure peace.

"Ukraine has made numerous attempts to reach a peaceful resolution. Ukraine had held 88 rounds of negotiations under the mediation of France and Germany since Zelenskyy’s election as president in 2019 until 24th February 2022. Russia trampled on all of these efforts and instead chose a barbaric, genocidal war of aggression," the minister added.

Ukraine attempted to find common ground even after 24 February, but without any success, Kuleba said. "Instead, Russia escalated its brutal attacks and announced plans to annex additional Ukrainian territories. President Zelenskyy made it clear that if Putin goes ahead with this annexation attempt, it will be impossible to talk to him," Ukraine's Foreign Minister said.

"Putin has ignored everything; all he wants is more war, more Ukrainian children stolen, more Ukrainians murdered, and more Ukrainian land taken. How does one deal with such evil? One crushes it by force," the minister said.

Kuleba emphasised that Ukraine has its own vision for peace, as outlined in Zelenskyy’s 10-point Peace Formula he presented.

"We urge all nations to focus on implementing the formula as a realistic path to peace rather than on wishful thinking about ending the war by asking the aggressor to do so," Kuleba said.

Background: Dmytro Kuleba and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola have held a telephone conversation, in which the key topic was the creation of a tribunal for the crime of aggression committed by the Russian Federation.

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