The White House confirmed on Friday that Ukrainian President Folodimir Zellinski alone can agree to start negotiations with Russia, rejecting the idea of American pressure on Kyiv.
“We all agree that the negotiating diplomatic solution is the best possible solution, except that Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to withdraw his forces” from Ukraine, “National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“We also said that the matter is up to President Zellinski to say whether he is ready and when it will be (ready) for negotiations and what is the form that these negotiations will take; and no one in the United States takes out to it or insists or pushes it to the negotiating table. ”
Negotiations are increasingly important in light of the heavy Russian strikes targeting civil infrastructure in Ukraine.
Kirby was asked about the statements of US Chief of Staff, General Mark Millie, who said twice recently that there is a possible opportunity to start talks to find a political solution to the conflict.
“The Russians are really bad, so you will want to negotiate when you are in a strong position and your opponent in a weak position,” said Thursday.
The American media recently reported that some senior officials have begun to encourage Ukraine to think about negotiation, which was rejected by Zelinski so far.
During the G20 summit on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the conditions of Ukraine were “unrealistic” to start talks to end the war.
Ukraine is calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces from its territory, while Moscow announced the inclusion of four Ukrainian regions at the end of September, in addition to the Crimean Peninsula that it included in 2014..
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