‘I don’t need historical s**t’: Zelensky tears into Putin over Ukraine peace talks

Volodymyr Zelensky has torn into Vladimir Putin after the latest round of negotiations in Geneva failed to achieve a breakthrough.

The increasingly frustrated Ukrainian president lashed out at the Russia leader in a post on X and an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.

“I don't need historical shit to end this war and move to diplomacy. Because it's just a delay tactic. I read no less history books than Putin,” the Ukrainian president said in a furious post on X.

The remarks came hours after hopes of a Ukraine peace deal looked further than ever Wednesday, when critical talks with Moscow and Washington ended in less than two hours.

Kyiv has repeatedly criticised Moscow’s peace delegation for giving long-winded lectures on history. The Russian delegation in Geneva was led by ultraconservative historian and presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Geneva talks.

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Putin was also reported to have lectured Donald Trump on figures from medieval and early modern history during their talks in Alaska last August.

Speaking to Piers Morgan, he said he doesn’t have “anything personal” against the Russian president. “No emotions. I understand how to really try to finish this war. I’m not sure that he will hear my arguments,” he said.

“It’s not even interesting for me why he began this war. I don’t need to waste time on historic issues – the reasons why he began all this, about Peter the First and so on. I don’t need it, because to end this war and move to a diplomatic path, I don’t need all this historical s**t.”

The Ukrainian president said that he would avoid the lengthy historical debates raised by Putin if he were ever to meet him face to face.

The “only thing” he wants to speak about with Putin is the fact that Kyiv and Moscow “need to resolve [the war] in the most successful way”, he said in the X post.

Zelensky added: “I know more about his country than he knows about Ukraine. Simply because I have been to Russia – to many cities. And I knew a lot of people there.

“He has never been to Ukraine this many times. He was only in big cities. I went to small cities. From the northern part to the southern part. Everywhere. I know their mentality.”

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After Wednesday’s brief talks ended, Zelensky said the third round of direct meetings had been “difficult” and accused Russia of deliberately stalling as the issue of territory remains a major obstacle.

“We can see that progress has been made, but, for now, positions differ because the negotiations were difficult,” he said, later adding that the talks were “substantive” but that “sensitive political matters” had not been addressed properly.

Medinsky also agreed talks had been difficult before inviting the Ukrainian side for closed-door discussions without American mediation.

Zelensky told Morgan, speaking of Putin, that he “can’t trust the person who has killed so many people in Ukraine and who began a full-scale invasion against my nation”.

“But I see now that only at the level of leaders can we try to end this war. At the level of three leaders, we can really try to solve the territorial issues, which are very sensitive and painful and difficult,” he added.