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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hinting that a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate “might not happen” after he accused Putin of atrocities.
“And in this meeting, we could find the way out of this situation, without losing our territory. I think that this is the bar we have to set for these negotiations. And then we will see. It might happen that there will be no negotiations. It might happen,” he said on Tuesday in a video broadcast on Ukrainian television.
The Ukrainian president visited Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, on Monday and spoke as he wept over the carnage he witnessed.
“I’ve visited our cities in the Kyiv region, which we liberated from the occupiers: Stoyanka, Irpin, Bucha,” he said. “Of course, now this area does not look like yesterday. The bodies of killed people, killed Ukrainians have already been taken from most streets. But in the yards, in the houses, the dead still remain.”
“We have just begun an investigation into all that the occupiers have done. At present, there is information about more than three hundred people killed and tortured in Bucha alone. It is likely that the list of victims will be much larger when the whole city is checked. And this is only one city. One of the many Ukrainian communities that the Russian military managed to seize,” he said.
He went on to compare what happened in Ukraine to the Holocaust.
“In many villages of the liberated districts of the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the occupiers did things that the locals had not seen even during the Nazi occupation 80 years ago. The occupiers will definitely bear responsibility for this,” the Ukrainian president said.
And he threatened that Russia would be the one to suffer if there were not negotiations to end the conflict.
“If the Russian leadership does not begin to really seek peace, really negotiate peace, they will put their country in the worst condition in 50 years. The so-called wicked 90’s will seem prosperous and calm,” he said.
On Monday, President Joe Biden called for Putin to be tried for war crimes.
A transcript of his remarks on the White House website said.
I have one comment to make before I start the day. You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal. Well, the truth of the matter — you saw what happened in Bucha. This warrants him — he is a war criminal.
But we have to gather the information, we have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight, and we have to get all the detail so this can be an actual — have a wartime trial.
This guy is brutal. And what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous, and everyone’s seen it.
I’ll — I’ll —
Q Do you agree that it’s genocide?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think it is a war crime.
Q What are you going to do about it, sir? Are you going to do more sanctions on Russia?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m seeking more sanctions, yes. I’ll have time to announce that to you.
Q Can you actually hold Putin accountable, though? You called him a war criminal.
THE PRESIDENT: He should be held accountable.
Q Can you actually hold him accountable without sanctions?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, no —
Q What else can you do?
THE PRESIDENT: No, no — go — go — the war crimes tri- — yes, I’m going to continue to add sanctions.
Thank you.
Q What kind of sanctions, Mr. President? What are you thinking?
THE PRESIDENT: I’ll let you know.
