Zelensky: Ukraine will be ready to negotiate after reaching 1991 borders

At a press conference in Kyiv with Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would be ready to negotiate with Russia after the Armed Forces of Ukraine reach the 1991 borders.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine’s borders on February 24, when Russia began its full-scale invasion of the country, were “not our borders — they were the line of contact between us and the occupiers.”

“Therefore we’re emphasizing once again that Ukraine will be ready for some form of diplomacy when we have truly reached our borders. Our real borders according to international law,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky’s remarks follow news that CIA director William Burns heard Ukraine’s plans for the end of the war during a secret trip to Ukraine. Sources told the Washington Post that “Ukrainian officials revealed an ambitious strategy to retake Russian-occupied territory” by the end of 2023. The Washington Post described Kyiv’s “ideal scenario” as one in which Ukraine would cut off Russia’s access to Crimea, holding the peninsula hostage and forcing Russia to the negotiating table. The Ukrainian authorities called the Washington Post report a “conspiracy theory.”