Russian president putin can be forced to start peace negotiations over Ukraine by making russians pay a higher price for the war. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with CNN, as reported by The Moscow Times Telegram channel.
"If russians find themselves in danger, if they are deprived of a comfortable life, if they have to live without electricity, like our people, they will understand the cost of the war, and they will be dissatisfied. Then they will start putting pressure on putin", - Zelensky said.
According to him, putin is not afraid of other countries and their leaders, but he fears the unrest of the russian people. Therefore, Western allies must help Ukraine become strong enough to deprive russians of their sense of security and comfort. In this case, Zelensky promised, the West will see that "putin will sit down and start negotiations".
"Diplomatic solutions are good if you're strong. Otherwise, putin won't even take part in them. And I think that under other circumstances, the russians won’t be interested in stopping the war", - Zelensky said.
He also noted that Ukraine has not yet received permission from the U.S. to use American long-range missiles for strikes on russia. According to him, Kyiv intends to use this weapon to attack military bases, not civilian infrastructure.