Zelensky: “No one is pressuring me to have Ukraine sit down at the negotiating table with Russia”

President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that no one from the leaders of the European Union or the United States was pressuring him to have Ukraine sit down at the negotiating table with Russia.

Zelensky stated this at a joint meeting with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during a conversation with the media in Kyiv, Rubryka reports.

"Regarding conversations. I don't know who publishes it. I don't know what it's for. I have a very unpleasant feeling that even we Ukrainians in the media also support this topic. I am surprised by this," said Zelensky, commenting on information about the alleged pressure of European and American leaders to start negotiations with Russia.

The president stressed that he did not know who and why was spreading such information.

"I don't know who is doing it, but I, as a person with this responsibility and authority regarding certain negotiations, will answer you very frankly. Everyone knows that my attitude coincides with the attitude of Ukrainian society, and that's why no one puts pressure on me today. At first, it was there. From the beginning of the war and before the war, the pressure happened. Today, no one is pressuring me among the leaders of the EU, the USA, etc., among our partners, to sit down with Russia, talk and give it something. This will not happen," Zelensky said.

Some mass media reported that representatives of the US and the European Union began discussing with Ukraine possible peace talks with Russia to end the war.

What we know about the visit of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to Kyiv

On November 4, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived on an official visit to Kyiv and met with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The EU Commission chief was also scheduled to speak in the Ukrainian parliament. The visit is taking place on the eve of the European Commission's report recommending starting negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.

In her turn, the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Olha Stefanishyna, confirmed that Ursula von der Leyen would arrive in Kyiv before publishing a report on Ukraine's progress towards EU membership.

The commission president noted at the end of October that the EU was preparing a strong blow to Russia's income. The 12th package of sanctions may include restrictions against Russian diamonds, which should hit the Russian Federation hard because it is the world's largest supplier of small diamonds.

Von der Leyen said that "Russia should pay for the long-term recovery of Ukraine." According to her, the EU discussed frozen Russian assets worth €211 billion.