Mikhail Pontolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, made the remarks when asked about an offer by French President Emanuel Macron to mediate talks between Kiev and Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
Kyiv said today that there was no point in negotiating with Moscow until Russian forces had retreated as far as possible to Ukraine’s border with Russia.
Mikhail Pontolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, made the remarks when asked about an offer by French President Emanuel Macron to mediate talks between Kiev and Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
“… Until we take up arms in full, until we strengthen our positions, until we push back (the Russian forces) as far back as possible to the borders of Ukraine, there is no point in holding negotiations,” Pontoliak said. on television.
Macron, who seeks to maintain dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, said the West should not humiliate Russia in order to keep the door open for a solution. to be achieved through diplomacy.
Ukraine, which says Russia has already occupied about 20 percent of its territory, is now receiving more powerful weapons from the West.
Yesterday, the head of the Ukrainian negotiators, David Arahamia, said that Ukraine wants to strengthen its military positions on the field with the help of new arms deliveries from the West before resuming peace talks with Russia.
Among other things, the United States will supply Ukraine with HIMARS precision missile systems that will allow it to hit Russian positions from a longer range.
