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Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready to accept neutral, non-nuclear status

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President

28 March 2022 09:33 (UTC +04:00)

Ukraine is ready to accept a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday in an interview with Russian independent journalists, APA reports citing CNN.

"Security guarantees and the neutral, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to accept this. This is the most important point," Zelensky said.

Zelenskyy told the journalists that, "this was the first point of principle for the Russian Federation, as I recall. And as far as I remember, they started the war because of this."

Any agreement would have to be put to the Ukrainian people in a referendum, he said. But Zelenskyy once again stressed his desire to reach a concrete peace agreement.

"So this clause is a security guarantee clause for Ukraine. And since they say it's for them [security guarantees] as well, it's understandable to me, and it's being discussed. It's in-depth, but I'm interested in making sure it's not just another piece of paper." Zelenskyy added.
"So we're interested in having that paper turned into a serious treaty to be signed."

Zelenskyy also said, "the issues of Donbas and Crimea must be discussed and solved" in peace talks.