Peace talks may now be off the table, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated Tuesday that peace talks with Russia may now be off the table, following the gruesome discovery of scores of dead civilians in Bucha and other towns outside Ukraine's capital that were recently recaptured from Russian forces.
"The most difficult thing is to talk about what they did," Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv. "We believe that this is genocide. We believe that they should be punished for it."
"I believe that we need to set such a bar for these negotiations," he added. "It may happen that there will be no meeting."
![PHOTO: Ukainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the press in the town of Bucha, Ukraine, April 4, 2022.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/ukraine-russia-bucha-zelenskyy-05-gty-llr-220404_1649105377538_hpMain.jpg)
Zelenskyy's comments came a day after he traveled to Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, where bodies in civilian clothes were found strewn in the streets and in mass graves. Many of the victims appeared to have been shot at close range and some even showed signs of torture. ABC News journalists on the ground saw some of the dead, including a family that locals said were executed with their hands bound.
-ABC News' Yulia Drozd