Failed talks with Putin could cause ‘World War III’, says Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he was ready to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but warned that if any attempt at negotiation fails, it could mean that fighting between the two countries would lead to “a third war.” World”.

“I am ready to negotiate with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war,” Zelensky told Fareed Zakaria of CNNin an exclusive interview.

“If there’s only a 1% chance of ending this war, I think we need to take advantage of it. We have to do this. I can talk about the outcome of this negotiation — in any case, we are losing people daily, innocent people on the ground,” he said.

“Russian forces came to exterminate us, to kill us. And we can demonstrate by the dignity of our people and our army that we can deal with a mighty blow, we are capable of fighting back. But unfortunately, our dignity will not preserve lives. So I think we have to use any format, any chance to have the possibility to negotiate, the possibility to talk to Putin. But if these attempts fail, it would mean that this is a third World War,” he added.

new attacks

The statements came on a day with more Russian attacks on Ukrainian targets.

According to a statement released on Telegram by the city council of Mariupol, Ukraine, an art school that was being used as a shelter was bombed by Russian forces also on Sunday. About 400 people were sheltered in the building that was destroyed in the attack, the council said. There is still no precise information on the number of victims, but authorities in the region say people are trapped under the rubble.

Russia has not commented on the charge of the art school bombing, but has consistently denied targeting civilians. In a video message posted to Facebook earlier this Sunday, Zelensky said the port city will go down in history as an example of war crimes.