The United States hopes that peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will take place in the near future, but believes that Kiev should determine the talks' conditions, US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on Saturday
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2022) The United States hopes that peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will take place in the near future, but believes that Kiev should determine the talks' conditions, US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on Saturday.
Smith told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the US wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to establish conditions for sitting down at the negotiating table with Russia.
According to Smith, Moscow could end the Ukrainian crisis the next day if it wanted.
Earlier in the week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said that Moscow was not putting forward any preconditions for negotiations with Ukraine, but Kiev must show goodwill. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was "open for contacts," but Ukraine "has codified the non-continuation of negotiations."
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In October, the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as the Russian-controlled parts of the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were incorporated into Russia following referendums, after which Zelenskyy signed a decree deeming holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin impossible.
Turkey has emerged as the key mediator between Russia and Ukraine, hosting several rounds of negotiations since the start of the hostilities.
