Ukrainian soldier waves Ukrainian national flag while standing on top of an armoured personnel carrier on April 8, 2022 in Hostomel, Ukraine |
Kiev - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba stressed that peace negotiations with Moscow would make sense only after Russia's defeat on the battlefield.
In an interview with Forbes Ukraine published on Monday (18/7/2022), Kuleba cited Russia's "aggressive behavior" as the reason for the absence of peace talks. He argued any negotiations were "directly related to the situation on the front lines." "I tell all partners one simple thing: 'Russia must sit at the negotiating table after losing on the battlefield. Otherwise, it will become another language ultimatum,'” said Kuleba.
He stressed President Zelensky had not ruled out "the possibility of negotiations" but believed that there was "no reason" for talks now. "He communicated this very clearly to the country's leaders who had hinted at negotiations. These leaders also stopped talking about it,” Kuleba said.
In June, Ukraine's top negotiator David Arakhamia suggested Kiev was confident it could reach a "favorable position" by the end of August after carrying out "counter-offensive operations in certain areas." On Sunday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the country's Security Council, said there was no doubt that all the goals of his country's military operations in Ukraine would be achieved.
At the same time, he noted "such actions are not direct," referring to some of Russian President Vladimir Putin's earlier statements. "The president has repeatedly spoken about this, there are certain scenarios about how such an operation could take place," Medvedev said.
Moscow and Kiev began peace talks four days after the start of Russia's military offensive in Ukraine in late February. The two sides have held several rounds in person in Belarus and then continued talks via video link.
In late March, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met once again, in Istanbul. However, since then, the conversation has completely stalled. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had given Ukraine a draft agreement but Kiev ignored it.
Peskov previously accused the US and its allies of "actively betting on continued war" and of not letting Kiev "think or talk about or discuss peace." Moscow has also warned the West against supplying weapons to Ukraine, saying this would only lead to an extension of the conflict and unnecessary casualties but would not change the outcome.