Ukraine's compromises with Russia will be put to referendum: Volodymyr Zelensky

LVIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that any compromises agreed with Russia to end the war would need to be voted on by Ukrainians in a referendum.

"The people will have to speak up and respond to this or that form of compromise. And what they (the compromises) will be is the subject of our talks and understanding between Ukraine and Russia," he said in an interview published by Ukrainian public broadcasting company Suspilne.

Issues that could be raised in any referendum could concern territories occupied by Russian forces, including Crimea, or security guarantees offered to Ukraine by countries in lieu of NATO membership, he said.

Zelenskyy also said that there cannot be any "denazification" in the agreement with Russia. “When a country that is treading in the footsteps of the Nazi is accusing us of being Nazi - we can`t accept that," the Kyiv Independent quoted him as saying during an interview to Suspilne, a Ukrainian public broadcaster.

Zelenskyy`s remarks came as Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine`s breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine.

Reiterating his stance of not surrendering, Zelenskyy said, "Let`s say they demand to get Kharkiv, or Mariupol, or Kyiv. People in these cities won`t let them do it. The only way they can seize the cities is to kill everyone, and take the empty city."

Speaking on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership, Zelenskyy said, "NATO should either say now that they are accepting us, or openly say they are not accepting us because they are afraid of Russia - which is true."

"And then we need to calm down and say - ok, there are NATO member countries that can provide us security guarantees without a membership in NATO," he added according to the media outlet.

"That`s where the compromise exists. That`s where the end of the war is," he said. Notably, Zelenskyy on Sunday had said that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if his country would have been a member of the NATO

"If we were a NATO member, a war wouldn`t have started. I`d like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people. If NATO members are ready to see us in the alliance, then do it immediately because people are dying on a daily basis," CNN quoted Zelenskyy as saying during an exclusive interview.