US former Under Secretary of State avoids answering whether US believes in Ukraine regaining all its territories
Victoria Nuland, former US Under Secretary of State, has declined to answer whether Washington considers it possible for Ukraine to achieve such a victory that would result in the regaining of all its occupied territories.
Nuland stated in an interview with Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza that the decision on when to start and whether to start negotiations with Russia for peace should be Ukraine's decision.
She noted that Russia's current idea of negotiation format boils down to "what's mine is mine, and what's yours – we'll discuss", so the goal of the US is to strengthen Ukraine in military, economic and political terms, so it has strong positions and the Kremlin understands that it won't achieve its goals and should consider negotiations.
She was then asked if this means that the American strategy no longer includes restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity within the borders of 1991. Nuland avoided giving a direct answer, stating that it's currently difficult to predict whether such outlines of victory for Ukraine are possible.
"All wars end with negotiations, and it's Ukraine's business to decide its territorial goals. However, Kyiv is not yet strong enough to start negotiating. We want Putin to be forced out of every square kilometre of Ukrainian land. But until Ukraine becomes strong enough, we don't know how possible that is," Nuland responded.
She continued that potential future agreements should ensure a strong, independent, democratic, and economically viable Ukraine, and guarantees are needed that the Kremlin leader won't return with a new war after some time.
"So half of the package recently approved by Congress is intended for a long-term contribution to the Ukrainian army. So if a pause does occur, Putin would know: the Ukrainian Armed Forces will only get stronger during this time, not the other way around," Nuland noted.
"In any case, I don't think Putin is ready for honest negotiations. He would like to see a leader in Ukraine like (Viktor) Yanukovych who would be ready to submit to Moscow's whims," she said [Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian former president of Ukraine who fled the country after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 – ed.].
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented on Russia's advance in Kharkiv Oblast, expressing the belief that Ukraine is capable of holding the contact line.