The leader of the presidential race, Vladimir Zelensky, said that one should not threat Ukraine and Ukrainians under military and economic pressure, UNIAN reported.

This is not the best way to cease fire and unblock the Minsk process, he said adding that he is ready for talks.

“I hope at the next meeting in the Norman format, Russia will demonstrate readiness for de-escalation,” he said.

He also expressed the hope that “Russia tends to speak more than to shoot.”

As UNIAN reported earlier, Putin had declared his readiness to negotiate with Zelensky in order to end the war in Donbas.