Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that he did not rule out the possibility of holding a referendum on the future status of war-torn eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
“I do not rule out the possibility of holding a referendum on Donbas in general. And here the issue is not the status quo. Something like this can happen in life,” Zelenski told the 1+1 TV channel, adding that the referendum could “concern either Donbas or Crimea.”
Zelensky also said that US President Joe Biden, in a telephone conversation with him on Thursday, conveyed to him the Russian assurances that Moscow would not cause an escalation in Ukraine.
“The message I received from the President of the United States is that Russia has assured the United States and the world that it does not intend to continue to escalate into the territories of our independent state,” said Zelensky. The Ukrainian president welcomed Biden’s involvement in the peace process in the Donbas region, and he added that he may hold direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the issue.
“Thanks to the United States, there could be another round of talks with the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president also said that the Normandy Format talks on resolving the Donbas issue could be complemented by contacts between Russia and the United States. He had previously suggested that the United States join the Normandy Format talks while until recently Washington refused to participate in the talks on Donbas. However, then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and immediately after Biden said that the US was ready to help resolve the dispute.
Stoltenberg: NATO and Ukraine will decide what their relationship will be, not Russia
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg yesterday rejected a request by Russia to revoke the Alliance’s commitment to Ukraine in 2008 that one day the country would become a member.
“NATO’s position when it comes to our relationship with Ukraine remains unchanged. “It is a fundamental principle that every nation has the right to choose its own path… including what kind of security arrangements it wants to be part of,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.
“NATO’s relationship with Ukraine is going to be decided by the 30 NATO allies and Ukraine, no one else. We cannot accept that Russia is trying to re-establish a system where big powers… have spheres of influence, where they can control and decide what other members do.”
Source: ANA-MPA