Zelensky: Ukraine will not offer Putin any salad or juice on the “menu”

The head of state announced this during an online press conference, as reported by an Ukrinform correspondent.

In response to a question about how the president feels about Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's attempts to include the war with Ukraine in the broader context of negotiations with the American side, including Middle East issues, Zelensky said:

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“Expanding the range of issues is a way to exclude Ukraine from the negotiation process as much as possible. Indeed, the parties have a wide range of interests, and this is obvious. The United States is an independent state (…), they can discuss anything they want. It seems to me that these are their bilateral relations, although, of course, they also affect our situation, primarily the war in Ukraine. And that is why I would not want… I spoke frankly about this with the American side. With all due respect, I do not want to offend anyone, but I do not want us to end up on Putin's “menu”. You know, we are not salad or juice for him, despite his appetite.”

The President confirmed that Ukraine is a sovereign state.

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“Therefore, it is wrong to negotiate about something without our participation, since this will not lead to the desired results for everyone,” the head of state said.

As reported by Ukrinform, on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump had a telephone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The conversation lasted more than an hour and a half.

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The Trump administration said the Russian side had agreed to a limited cease-fire, meaning no energy or infrastructure facilities would be attacked, as part of a U.S.-backed initiative to bring peace to Ukraine.