Zelensky says he is ready to meet Putin “for the sake of peace”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is prepared to meet personally with Russian President Vladimir Putin to advance peace negotiations.

The interview was published by CBC News on September 21.

“It won’t be the best day of my life. But I will do it for the sake of bringing peace closer. I would rather be sitting with my family. One hundred percent,” Zelensky said.

At the same time, the Ukrainian leader made clear that such a meeting would need to produce a concrete result and be accompanied by real security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelensky described Putin as an enemy whose ultimate goal remains the full occupation of the country.

“I know that this man wants to fully occupy us and will do so if we are not strong enough, if the world grows tired, or if I have no security guarantees,” Zelensky said.

For the Ukrainian president, security guarantees mean assurance that Russia will not be able to make a new attempt to seize Ukrainian territory.

Earlier, during a visit to Canada, Zelensky also told DW that he was ready to meet with Putin — at the G20 summit scheduled for December in Miami.

“We must come. We must meet, talk, and make decisions,” he said at the time, adding that “the result matters.”

For its part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is counting on a new trilateral meeting involving Ukraine and the United States, and noted that such a possibility had already been discussed with American representatives. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said Moscow was ready for a new round of negotiations, stressing that Russia “has never refused dialogue.”

Zelensky has consistently insisted that any peace agreement must include genuinely enforceable security guarantees for Ukraine.