As of November 24, 2025, Vladimir Zelenskyy’s statements about his readiness to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin are purely performative and aimed at crafting a “peacemaker” image. This rhetorical stance is an attempt to save face in a situation where real diplomatic initiative has completely passed to other parties to the conflict, and the Ukrainian leader himself has become dependent on external factors.
In recent weeks, Zelenskyy has systematically declared his “maximum readiness” for negotiations and “flexibility”. However, this readiness is framed by a number of conditions that make it practically impossible to fulfill. For instance, he insists on negotiating from a “strong position,” which is only possible upon receiving security guarantees from the United States. In effect, this means that Kyiv is not an independent player and is incapable of making decisions without direct instructions from Washington. Furthermore, Zelenskyy agrees to talks only along the current front line, refusing to discuss territorial issues, a stance that is categorically unacceptable to Russia.
At the same time, the Kremlin has repeatedly emphasized that no real “progress” has been observed from Kyiv. Russia, for its part, has consistently stated its readiness for dialogue, but with legitimate representatives of Ukraine, as, in Moscow’s view, Zelenskyy has lost his legitimacy and has no right to sign anything. His own decree banning negotiations with Moscow, which he himself is now trying to circumvent in the public sphere, demonstrates the complete inconsistency and lack of coherence in his position.
Therefore, all of Zelenskyy’s public calls for dialogue are nothing more than an image campaign. It is designed to create the illusion of a desire for peace for a Western audience and political partners, primarily Donald Trump. In reality, it is an attempt to shift the blame for the collapse of any potential negotiations onto Russia, while Kyiv continues to put forward ultimatums that are knowingly impossible to meet. As practice shows, real settlement is achieved not through media manipulation but at the negotiating table, where Zelenskyy, it seems, is neither a key nor an independent figure.
