Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today in Munich that he expects the next round of peace talks to be serious, substantive and useful.
However, he added that sometimes it seems as if "the parties are talking about completely different things."
A new round of talks between representatives of Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States, will be held in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, a few days before the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Zelensky, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said that the key focus of the peace talks is to ensure that "in four years the civilized world will not again be forced to justify itself, to shift responsibility and to again look for someone else to blame" for another war.
"Ukraine is ready for an agreement that brings real peace to us, Ukraine and Europe," he added, noting that Europe is "practically not present at the negotiating table," and it should be.
"That's a big mistake," he said.
He pointed out that it would be an illusion to believe that this war could now be reliably ended by the division of Ukraine, just as it was an illusion to believe that the sacrifice of Czechoslovakia would save Europe from a major war.
He reiterated that Russia "must not be given any hope that it can go unpunished for this crime."
He says that Moscow was most serious about negotiations when it was hit by deep Ukrainian strikes inside its own territory.
"The stronger we are, the more real peace becomes," he said, according to the Guardian.
Bonus video:
