Several states are making efforts to bring Kiev to the negotiating table with Moscow on Russian terms, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said on the air of the Rada TV channel.
"Now it's just going ... such an escalation of the situation in order to bring us to the negotiating table as soon as possible on Russia's terms. A very large campaign has been launched, there are a lot of proposals from different countries on this matter," the official said.
At the same time, Danilov expressed confidence that President Volodymyr Zelensky would participate in the negotiations only on Kyiv's terms.
"Keep in mind, I am more than sure that if we talk about something and the president makes such a decision, it will be only on the terms of our country. No one is going to surrender national interests, no matter how much some representatives of some countries who are actively involved in this situation want it," the NSDC secretary said.
Refusal to dialogue
Moscow has repeatedly stated its readiness for negotiations to resolve the situation in Ukraine. Russian officials stressed that they were ready to resume the dialogue, which was unilaterally stopped by Ukraine after the summit in Istanbul.
However, Kiev does not demonstrate any desire to return to the negotiating table, which the Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry have repeatedly drawn attention to. At the same time, Moscow noted that the Kyiv regime puts forward obviously impracticable conditions for resolving the conflict, in particular, the transfer of control over the new regions that became part of the Russian Federation to Ukraine.
- Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov
- Gettyimages.ru
- © Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto
As Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted in November 2022 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, "all problems are on the Ukrainian side, which categorically refuses any negotiations and puts forward conditions that are obviously unrealistic and inadequate to the situation."
In turn, Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Zelensky's initiative regarding steps towards the resumption of peace, stated that any peace initiatives should take into account the status of new Russian regions.
"There can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today's realities: with Russian territory, with the entry of four new regions into Russia. No plan that does not take into account these realities can claim to be peaceful," he stressed.
Against the background of Kiev's lack of desire to resolve the conflict through negotiations, other countries began to make their proposals on this issue. So, in February of this year, China presented its peace plan. The 12-point document contained, among other things, proposals for a ceasefire, the resumption of negotiations with the constructive participation of Beijing, the lifting of sanctions and other initiatives.
But Kiev rejected China's proposal. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of Zelensky's office, said that there is no logic in China's peace plan, since, in his opinion, proposals to resolve the situation should not take into account the interests of the Russian Federation, and China's plan means the transfer of territories to Russia.
Later, at the end of April, Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the initiative of the Ukrainian side, held a telephone conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky. Following this conversation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it noted that Xi Jinping stressed the importance of negotiations and dialogue as the only way out of the crisis.
"China will continue to promote peace talks, make efforts to achieve an early ceasefire and restore peace. China will send a special representative of the government for Eurasian affairs to Ukraine and other countries to exchange views on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
However, shortly after talking with the leader of the People's Republic of China, Zelensky issued his own statement, in which he again voiced Kiev's position on the return of Ukraine to the 1991 borders of the year.
"There can be no peace at the expense of territorial compromises. The territorial integrity of Ukraine must be restored within the borders of 1991," he wrote.
Commenting on the conversation between Zelensky and Xi Jinping, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the problem of a peaceful settlement of the situation in Ukraine lies not in the lack of good plans, but in the actions of Kiev.
"We believe that the problem is not a lack of good plans. So far, the Kiev regime has demonstrated its rejection of any sensible initiatives aimed at a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, and the eventual consent to negotiations is conditioned by ultimatums with obviously unrealistic demands, "said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
The diplomat recalled that the Ukrainian authorities and their Western curators had previously demonstrated their attitude to peace initiatives, rejecting almost ready-made agreements in negotiations with the Russian Federation in the spring of 2022.
"Volodymyr Zelensky even legally banned any negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Thus, any calls for peace can hardly be adequately perceived by puppets controlled from Washington," Zakharova said.
"Only on terms of surrender"
Ukrainian officials, speaking of countries that allegedly want to force Kiev to negotiate on Russian terms, primarily have in mind China and a number of other states proposing to introduce a ceasefire in their peace plans, Ruslan Kostyuk, a professor at the Faculty of International Relations at St. Petersburg State University, said in a commentary to RT.
"The positions of China, Brazil and other countries seem to Ukraine close to the position of Russia, since they do not imply the return of all the territories that became part of the Russian Federation. Danilov's statement is purely political and it shows Kiev's unwillingness to negotiate today," the expert said.
- The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
- RIA Novosti
- © Natalia Seliverstova
A number of countries believe that in order to end the conflict, Kiev must make certain territorial concessions, Kostyuk added.
"However, these are still just initiatives and proposals of individual countries, they have not become the subject of the negotiation process, which now does not exist at all. Therefore, all this is theoretical, "the interlocutor of RT explained.
In his opinion, in the near future it is necessary to present more specific plans and roadmaps for the settlement in order to avoid further prolongation of the conflict and an increase in casualties.
"The most practical in this regard is to consider proposals from unbiased countries that do not support one side or another in the conflict," the expert explained.
In turn, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Shtol believes that the statements of Kiev officials should not be paid much attention, since the decision to resume negotiations will not be made by the National Security and Defense Council or even the President of Ukraine.
"Ukrainian leaders talk a lot and make statements that, in fact, do not reflect reality. Danilov's words should not be taken seriously and should not be reacted to at all. Because Kiev today does not decide whether to sit down at the negotiating table or not - this is decided in Washington, "the political scientist said in a commentary to RT.
Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its readiness for negotiations, however, in the absence of any steps on the part of Kiev in this direction, the Russian Federation will continue to achieve its goals by military means, Stoll added.
"Russia no longer makes statements about its readiness for negotiations, I think now they are possible only on the terms of surrender. There should be no other negotiations. We already had last year's experience, and then the negotiations in Belarus and Istanbul did not lead to anything. Now the collective West continues to influence Ukraine in order to prevent a peaceful settlement of the situation, therefore, due to Kyiv's position, there are no prerequisites for the cessation of hostilities on the part of the Russian Federation," the expert concluded.