Rubio said peace talks are "at a stalemate." Zelenskyy blamed the US for this
The President of Ukraine, referring to the US, noted that it is inappropriate to speak of a diplomatic stalemate while agreeing on some economic projects with Russia.
Rubio said peace talks are at a "deadlock." Zelenskyy blamed the US for this
For now, there are no visible opportunities for a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this in an interview with the Greek publication "Kathimerini."
Rubio noted that a "strategic deadlock" has emerged in the war: Russia continues to demand full control over Donbas, while Ukraine absolutely cannot accept such a condition.
A strategic deadlock has arisen in the war between Russia and Ukraine. There are only two ways out of it – either agreeing at the negotiating table, or escalation. Currently, there are no prospects for a resolution through negotiations, because Russia states that its goal is full control over Donbas, which is an unacceptable condition for Ukraine. Therefore, a diplomatic solution is currently impossible. We are ready to participate in finding it in the future.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while visiting the city of Pryluky in the Chernihiv region with UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband to commemorate 22 people killed in a Russian strike, gave a sharp response to Rubio's words in front of the media.
"We have heard about many different situations during the war. Many situations with no way out, being backed into a corner, and so on. We back ourselves into a corner – people, leaders, politicians back themselves into a corner... you know, on one hand, you cannot agree with the Russians on some economic projects for the future, and on the other hand, say that we are in some kind of diplomatic deadlock. We are not in a diplomatic deadlock," Zelenskyy said.
He noted that it is simply enough to shut down the Russian economy and open the skies for Starlink, but the Americans do not want to do this.
"Shut down the entire economy. Shut Russia's mouth. Do not feed them with your sales. Just impose sanctions on their weapons. Open Starlink for Ukraine. You opened it when you were responding to Iran, didn't you? Everything worked there. Israel fully controlled the Iranian skies. That is, when you need it, it works. Helping Ukraine is nothing to them. And I said openly – give it to us, help us protect and dominate the skies," Zelenskyy said.
Then Putin will sit at the negotiating table. Why? Because he will lose everything. Two, three months – and he will lose everything. Meanwhile, we are waiting for the Chinese to develop an analogue and hand it over to the Russians. So, where is the truth, where is the honesty? Where is the deadlock here? What kind of deadlock? This is called unwillingness.