Ukrainian ambassador thanks Vucic on his offer for Belgrade to host Russia-Ukraine negotiations

Photo: Tanjug/Sava Radovanovic

Ambassador of Ukraine to Serbia Oleksandr Alexandrovich expressed his gratitude to President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic for the offer for Belgrade to host negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, B92 reports.

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"We are grateful to Vucic for the proposal, Serbia is an important international partner for us, and the Serbian people are hospitable. However, it does not matter where the negotiations take place. We will see after the talks in Turkey how things develop further," Alexandrovich told RTS.

He says that it is important to stop the war as soon as possible and that the man who started the war can stop it immediately, and that is President Vladimir Putin.

"We want peace, but it does not depend on us. We are defending ourselves on our country," said Alexandrovich.

Commenting on yesterday's progress in the negotiations, the ambassador of Ukraine said that President Volodimir Zelensky made a clear statement and mentioned four important points. The first is that the Ukrainian people and government will be deciding on any solution, and the second is that sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea and Donbass, is a red line that will not be crossed. The third are security guarantees, which, according to the ambassador, represent a long-term process.

"Since Russia is not stopping the bombing and shelling even during the negotiations, currently the best guarantee is the Ukrainian army. Fourth, sanctions will not be reduced, regardless of the negotiations, because Russia continues to kill civilians," said Oleksandr Alexandrovich.

According to UN data, at least 1,179 civilians have died during the current war in Ukraine so far.

"The number of dead is significantly higher, because the UN publishes only data that is 100 percent confirmed, with names and last names (of victims). In Mariupol alone, several thousand people died, people are under debris and we do not know how many there are," said Ambassador Alexandrovich.

(Telegraf.rs)