According to media reports, Sullivan, reporting this to Kiev, suggested that a show of openness to negotiations is beneficial to Ukraine.
Two unnamed European officials told the publication that they had recommended Zelenskyi’s team to “start considering their realistic demands and priorities for negotiations, including revisiting Ukraine’s stated goal of handing back Crimea” occupied by Russia in 2014. .
The publication notes that Sullivan has repeatedly publicly stated that Washington will not press Kiev on negotiations. So, you talked about this, specifically on the 10th And 11 November.
The newspaper points out that US officials are “pushing” Ukraine to start thinking about peace talks in case the offensive of the Armed Forces slows down in winter. According to the article, US and some European officials suggest that in such a case, the “public” (likely referring to citizens of Ukraine’s allies) could demand a deal.
According to a Western European official who spoke to the media, the partners are telling Ukraine it should decide when to start negotiations, “but it might be a good idea to do it earlier.”
According to US officials, now is not the right time for negotiations: they believe that in the coming weeks and months it will be possible to discuss them, writes the newspaper.
The Wall Street Journal’s interlocutors in European countries, especially in eastern and northern ones, believe that public insistence on negotiations could harm Ukraine. One of the Northern European officials stressed the need to talk about the “price of peace”. If the war ends now, “Ukrainians will get the message that their fight was for nothing,” he said. The essence of the message to the Russian Federation in this case will be that “the time has come for restructuring and economic recovery.”
He stressed that no one believes that the Russian Federation will stop short of achieving its goal.
The publication adds: Both American and European officials say they do not see Russia’s serious interest in the negotiations.
The negotiations on the end of the war, Ukraine and Russia were at the level of delegations. There were four head-to-head rounds (last – March 29th in Turkey). Furthermore, the delegations met in video format. In May, the negotiation process was suspended due to the Russian side no specifics to discussexplained in the Office of the President of Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the eve of a full-scale war and for several months after it began insisted on a personal meeting with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
In Moscow rejected, required give up Ukraine and acceptance of the conditions of the Russian Federation.
September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech dedicated to illegal annexation of Ukrainian territoriescalled on Ukraine to cease fire and immediately sit down at the negotiating tableexcluding that the return of its territories to Ukraine will be on the agenda.
In response, Zelensky said that Ukraine wants to reach an agreement with the Russian Federation, but this is impossible with the current president. “He doesn’t know what dignity and honesty are. Therefore we are ready for dialogue with Russia, but with a different president“, – he said. On October 4, Zelensky implemented the decision of the National Security and Defense Council, adopted on September 30, in which officially declared “the impossibility of holding negotiations with Putin”.
On November 9, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said that the retreat of the Russians from Kherson – good reason to negotiate. Biden said the same day that Russia’s retreat from Kherson would give Ukraine and Russia time to “calibrate” your positions for the winter, and added: “It remains to be seen whether a decision will be made on Ukraine’s readiness or unpreparedness for a compromise with Russia.” He stressed that the United States does not intend to tell them what they should do.
“I don’t know what they will do. But I know one thing: we won’t tell him what to do“said Biden.
On November 10, Zelensky said he still did not rule out negotiations with the Russian Federation. He stressed that, “apart from the ultimatums, I have not heard anything from the current president of the Russian Federation”, but did not close the door. Zelensky insists it negotiations are possible under these conditions: restoration of territories, respect for the United Nations Charter, compensation for war damages, punishment of war criminals, guarantees of non-aggression.
November 11 Ukrainian Defense Forces went to Cherson.
