Zelensky called the “last line”, after which Kyiv will not agree to negotiations with Moscow

The tribunal over the captured Ukrainian military may become the “last line”, after which Kyiv will not negotiate with Moscow. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky made such a statement in a video message on his Telegram channel.

Zelensky pointed to the preparations in Mariupol for the trial of Ukrainian prisoners of war. He stressed that Kyiv’s reaction to the tribunal would be unequivocal: “If our people are brought to this stage in violation of all agreements, all international rules, if there are abuses … This will be the line beyond which no negotiations are possible.”

Zelensky specified that by such actions Russia would “cut itself off” from participation in peace negotiations. The Ukrainian leader described the trial as “bullying people” and said that Ukraine would not tolerate such an attitude towards its military.

In early August, the head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, said that the first tribunal over Ukrainian prisoners of war could take place in Mariupol before the end of summer. “The task is to hold the tribunal as openly as possible,” he said.

Earlier, the head of the republic also stated the need for a tribunal against Ukrainian nationalists from the Azov battalion (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia). According to him, it must go through several stages, one of the first will be in Mariupol. The Russian Foreign Ministry allowed the exchange of prisoners of war only after the trial.

Since the beginning of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the parties have held talks several times. The first three face-to-face meetings took place in Belarus: on February 28, representatives of Russia and Ukraine met in the Gomel region, and then on March 3 and 6, negotiations continued in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. The fourth round of the Russian-Ukrainian dialogue took place on March 29 in Istanbul. But later the process was frozen. On May 17, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that Ukraine had actually withdrawn from the negotiation process.

After that, the Russian authorities repeatedly stated that Russia did not refuse negotiations with Ukraine. At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized that Western countries are hindering this process by pumping weapons to Ukraine and thereby prolonging the conflict.

Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy already called the condition after which, according to him, negotiations with Russia would become impossible. “If a [российские власти] will follow the path of pseudo-referendums, they will close for themselves any chances for negotiations with Ukraine and the free world, which the Russian side will clearly need at some point,” he said. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov clarified that at present “there are no negotiations, no prerequisites for them.”

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