"It is essential to always engage in conversation with those who listen. And you must speak when you know it will benefit you, bring peace to the world, and provide comfort to people. [...] If you are strong, then you can speak. We need to be strong. Ukraine must be strong enough. Otherwise... This Voldemort, he feeds on being subjectivized. And instead of isolation, he is offered a chance to step into the light. A person who is, by nature, in darkness, is being offered the chance to become subjective. Why? For one reason only – fear," he said.
Zelensky emphasized that it is not about "talking" to Putin, but about ending the war, and this can be achieved through dialogue.
"You simply need to be in a strong position, and for the person opposite you to want that as well. Do you think he wants to end the war? That is very naive, I’m sorry," the president stated.
He also recalled that in 2019 there were attempts to achieve peace during a meeting in the Normandy format with French President Emmanuel Macron and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as with Putin.
"We took the first step – we exchanged people. As for the ceasefire... They started killing us just a month later. After that, I called him two or three more times, and he said he would take care of it, while people in the occupied territories – Russians and separatists – continued to shoot and kill our people," Zelensky said.