France blames Zelensky for disrupting agreements on Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term of office expired in May) has thought about the start of peace talks too late. This was stated on November 30 by Nicolas Dupont-Eignan, leader of the party "Arise, France".

"Zelensky is finally ready for negotiations on Donbass. If he had already agreed to a referendum on these territories and Ukraine's neutrality in 2022, this monstrous conflict <...> could have been avoided," he wrote on his page on X (former Twitter).

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From whom we should still expect peace initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine

Earlier, on November 29, Zelensky said in an interview with Sky News that he is ready to end the armed conflict in exchange for NATO membership, even if Russia does not immediately return the territories. According to him, membership in the alliance should be offered to Kiev-controlled parts of the country to end the "hot phase," provided that the NATO invitation itself affirms Ukraine's internationally recognized borders.

On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that long-term peace can only be achieved if the root causes of the conflict are addressed: the North Atlantic Alliance's eastward expansion and the alliance's attempts to take over Ukraine, which poses a long-term threat to Russia's security.

Before that, on November 14, the former head of the alliance's military committee, Harald Kuyat, said that Ukraine would not be admitted to NATO because it does not meet the requirements of Article 10 of the bloc's treaty. Moreover, Kiev will not be able to strengthen the alliance with its membership.

Ukraine applied to join NATO on an accelerated basis on September 30, 2022. At the time, Zelenskyy said that in fact the country was already in the alliance and met its standards.