Zelenskyy to meet Putin after Ukraine's victory in major battles - Mykhailo Podoliak

Mykhailo Podoliak, Adviser to the Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine, stated that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Ukraine wins major battles, including the battle over Donbas

Mykhailo Podoliak on air during the national 24/7 newscast said : "Whether [we can] just say that in a week or two we will meet at presidential level ... No. It will happen as follows. Ukraine is ready for major battles, Ukraine must win these battles, including the battle over Donbas. After that Ukraine will have a more substantial negotiating position to dictate certain terms. After that, the presidents will meet. It may take two weeks, it may take three."

According to Podoliak, Russia has not yet fully understood the necessity "to talk to Ukraine on an equal footing at the very least, and at the most, to hear Ukraine."

"I think they [the Russian authorities - ed.] will come to this understanding in a week or two, while this great battle in Donbas goes on. Russia wants to win some situational victory there. It will most certainly not get it, but it wants to inflict some sort of defeat upon us. And then we can move on to actual step-by-step negotiations from which we will emerge with a concrete security formula for Ukraine," Podoliak said.

He said that Ukraine is paying a very high price for victory, losing people and infrastructure every day.

"Though, I want everyone to understand: Russia must get rid of its imperial illusions, and Ukraine is the only country in the world that can do that. It no longer matters how much time we need to accomplish this. We will do everything to obtain certain, very powerful security guarantees for Ukraine, to close its borders forever from the imperial ambitions of countries like Russia. The President will enter the talks when we have absolutely clear positions for this," Podoliak stressed.

According to him, Ukraine has proved that it is currently the only country that is "ready to pay any price for the world to return to the ideals of freedom."

"Ukraine is definitely not losing. We have no other way. Everything that has happened - Bucha, the Kyiv region, Kramatorsk, all this has brought us to the point where we have to put an end to the cannibalistic regime that is Russia today," said Podoliak.