Ukraine criticized Zelensky for refusing peace agreements in 2022

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) would not be experiencing such difficulties on the frontline now if the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term of office expired on 20 May) had not started rejecting the peace agreements signed with Russia in Istanbul two years ago. This opinion was expressed by Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko on November 26.

Zelensky said in a new video message in his Telegram channel that he had a conversation with AFU Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky, who reported to him about the very difficult situation for the military in the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), especially in the Kurakhov direction.

"Why was it necessary to cancel agreements two years ago (concluded in Istanbul in 2022. - Ed.) to barely hold positions now?" - commented Panchenko on her page in the social network X (former Twitter).

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Before that, on November 7, Verkhovna Rada deputy Yevgeny Shevchenko said that Zelensky should start a dialog with Russia. He noted that the situation in the country is more important than personal ambitions, and added that, most likely, after the "dialog" the president of Ukraine "will have to leave." On the same day, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that if Zelensky decides to enter peace talks with Russia to resolve the conflict, the United States will support him.

On October 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin reported that Ukraine had already approached the Russian Federation twice, using Turkey as a mediator, with proposals. At the same time, when the Russian side agreed, Kiev immediately abandoned its own initiatives. The Russian leader also noted that Moscow was ready to make reasonable compromises on the settlement of the conflict, but only on the basis of the Istanbul agreements of 2022.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the worsening situation in the region.