Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested on Tuesday that he is willing to conduct peace talks with Russia while sticking to Kyiv's core demands, in a move that softens his refusal to negotiate with Moscow as long as President Vladimir Putin is in power.
There was a change in the Ukrainian president's rhetoric as he appealed to the international community to “force Russia into real peace talks”.
After Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions in September, Mr Zelenskyy signed a decree stating “the impossibility of holding talks” with Mr Putin.
However, it is unlikely Mr Zelenskyy's latest remarks will advance any talks, as the conditions he set will be non-starters for Moscow.
Mr Zelenskyy reiterated that his conditions for dialogue were the return of all of Ukraine’s occupied lands, compensation for war damage and the prosecution of war crimes. He did not specify how world leaders should coerce Russia into talks.
Western weapons and aid have been key to Ukraine’s ability to fight off Russia’s invasion, which some initially expected would tear through the country with relative ease.
This means Kyiv cannot ignore how the war is seen in the US and the European Union, said political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.
Antonov AN-225 destroyed by Russia in Ukraine — in pictures
“Zelenskyy is trying to manoeuvre because the promise of negotiations does not oblige Kyiv to anything, but it makes it possible to maintain the support of western partners,” said Mr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Centre independent think tank.
“A categorical refusal to hold talks plays into the Kremlin’s hands, so Zelenskyy is changing the tactics and talks about the possibility of a dialogue, but on conditions that make it all very clear.”
Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks in Belarus and Turkey early in the war, which is now nearing its nine-month mark, and Mr Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with Mr Putin — which the Kremlin brushed off.
The talks stalled after the last meeting of the delegations, held in Istanbul in March, yielded no results.
Mr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Kyiv has “repeatedly proposed [talks] and to which we always received crazy Russian responses with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail”.
Ukraine war latest — in pictures
Russia resumed calls for talks after it started losing ground to a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the east and south in September.
Mr Zelenskyy rejected the possibility of negotiating with Mr Putin later that month after the Russian leader illegally claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory.
The Ukrainian president said on Monday that his country's conditions for dialogue included the “restoration of [Ukraine’s] territorial integrity … compensation for all war damage, punishment for every war criminal and guarantees that it will not happen again”.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, said on Tuesday that Moscow was not setting any conditions for the resumption of talks. He accused Kyiv of lacking “good will”.
“This is their choice. We have always declared our readiness for such negotiations,” Mr Rudenko said.
Putin's inner circle — in pictures
Mr Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that the US is preventing Ukraine from engaging in peace talks, which several countries have offered to mediate.
In an interview released on Tuesday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said western countries would not push Kyiv to negotiate on Moscow’s terms.
“Ukraine is receiving rather effective weapons from its partners, first and foremost the US,” Mr Podolyak said.
“We’re pushing the Russian army out of our territory. And given that, it’s nonsense to force us to negotiate, and de facto to concede to Russia’s ultimatum! No one will do that.”
Military footage shows Ukraine soldiers dismantling Russian flags in a liberated area — video
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
Why are you, you?
Why are you, you?
From this question, a new beginning.
From this question, a new destiny.
For you are a world, and a meeting of worlds.
Our dream is to unite that which has been
separated by history.
To return the many to the one.
A great story unites us all,
beyond colour and creed and gender.
The lightning flash of art
And the music of the heart.
We reflect all cultures, all ways.
We are a twenty first century wonder.
Universal ideals, visions of art and truth.
Now is the turning point of cultures and hopes.
Come with questions, leave with visions.
We are the link between the past and the future.
Here, through art, new possibilities are born. And
new answers are given wings.
Why are you, you?
Because we are mirrors of each other.
Because together we create new worlds.
Together we are more powerful than we know.
We connect, we inspire, we multiply illuminations
with the unique light of art.
Ben Okri,
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 13', Kroos 28')
Barcelona 1 (Mingueza 60')
Red card: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Trippier bio
Date of birth September 19, 1990
Place of birth Bury, United Kingdom
Age 26
Height 1.74 metres
Nationality England
Position Right-back
Foot Right
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea