Kuleba States under What Conditions Ukraine Will Enter into Negotiations with Russia

Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has stated that Ukraine does not reject negotiations with Russia, but is ready to agree to them only when it comes to the full restoration of territorial integrity.

Kuleba in an interview with Politico suggested that "part of the territory of Ukraine will be liberated by military means, and part, perhaps, by diplomatic means".

He also noted that at the moment when Russia gives a "serious signal of readiness for negotiations", then both Ukraine and its partners will have to "very carefully analyse why this signal was sent".

Kuleba believes that Russia will show "serious interest in real negotiations at the moment when it realises and comes to terms with the fact that its position has weakened as much as possible, it can’t even keep what it has captured, it will need to rapidly stabilise the situation".

He added that it would not even be about "saving face", but about preserving what they control at the time.

"But then a logical question arises: if at this moment we are successfully on the offensive and we are liberating our territories, why do we need to agree on something with the aggressor?

Our ultimate goal is the liberation of our territories. We are not at war with them in order to sit down and somehow agree that they will stay here."

"The more military support we get now, the sooner this war will end. That is why Ukraine calls on its partners to focus on the schedule: the quick delivery of what the Ukrainian army needs will bring victory and peace closer," Kuleba added.

The head of the Foreign Ministry believes that "now there should be no doubt that Ukraine can win, and Russia can be defeated on the battlefield."

From the end of August, Ukrainian troops went on a counteroffensive in Kherson and then in Kharkiv oblasts. According to analysts' calculations, in the first days of September, the Armed Forces of Ukraine recaptured more territories than the Russians had captured since April.

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, fleeing from the Kharkiv region, left behind their military equipment, but the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation called this a planned regrouping of troops to increase efforts on the Donetsk front.