US to back Ukraine's talks with Russia if Zelenskyy is ready

The United States is ready to support negotiations between Ukraine and Russia if President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expresses his willingness in this regard.

Source: Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US Department of State, at a briefing, as reported by European Pravda

Details: In light of US President-elect Donald Trump's statements about the possibility of ending the Russo-Ukrainian war in the "first 24 hours" of his term in office, journalists asked the spokesperson whether Washington would facilitate negotiations between Ukraine and Russia "if both parties sort of express a willingness to start talking towards that".

Miller emphasised that if the Ukrainian president decides that he wants to start negotiations with Russia, the United States will support this.

"That has been our policy – our longstanding policy that it is up for President Zelenskyy to decide when it’s time for negotiations. It’s not something that it is appropriate for us or for any other country to push him into," he stressed.

The spokesperson emphasised that the United States would support Zelenskyy "in any process to try and ensure a just and lasting peace, but that is ultimately his decision".

"But as always – and you can just look at the statements that he continues to make – we have seen no indication from Vladimir Putin that he is willing to drop his demand to continue to gobble up Ukrainian territory," he said.

Miller also expressed confidence that Putin had agreed to negotiations in which he "would accept where he gets everything that he wants and Ukraine gets nothing that it is entitled to under the law".

"But that is not a negotiation that President Zelenskyy has been interested in nor should it be," he concluded.

Background:

• According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump's team is supposedly considering the idea of freezing the front along the current line with a demilitarised zone and a 20-year moratorium on Ukraine's NATO membership to fulfil his promise to "end the war quickly" in Ukraine.
• Zelenskyy himself, congratulating Trump on his victory in the election, said he appreciated his commitment to the "peace through strength" approach and expressed his belief that it could help bring a just peace to Ukraine.
• After the European Political Community Summit, Zelenskyy noted that he believed that Trump wanted a quick end to the war but that it could mean losses for Ukraine.

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