““All the other players in the world are watching closely how we act in this case. That’s why we really need to be strong””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Progressing the negotiations too soon will actually be a bad deal for Ukraine. All the other players in the world are watching closely how we act in this case. So we really need to be strong. Syria shows us that Russia is not invincible and we should not underestimate our own strength,” Callas said on December 19 in Brussels after arriving at the European Council meeting.
According to her, during the meeting, EU leaders will talk about “how we will support Ukraine more”.
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Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda also stated that it is too early to talk about peace negotiations now.
“I hear rumors about possible peace talks. And in my opinion, it is too early. Because currently Russia is on the offensive, Russia is advancing, feels a stronger position in any possible negotiations. And this will not lead to a just and stable peace. If we try to do something in this situation, it will be an unjust and unstable peace,” Radio Svoboda correspondent quoted Nauseda as saying.
Russia does not show readiness for negotiations, and in this situation it is necessary to do everything possible to make Ukraine stronger, and only after that go to negotiations, Nauseda added, arriving at the summit of EU leaders.
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The day before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that next year Ukraine will do everything to “turn out to be strong and already move to diplomacy.”
Recently, Zelenskyy stated that the Ukrainian army lacks the strength to liberate some territories temporarily occupied by Russia and that diplomatic solutions should be sought. And before that, in a conversation with Sky News, he allowed the end of the hot phase of the war on the condition that the government-controlled part of the Ukrainian territory will be taken under the NATO umbrella, which will allow him to later agree on the return of the occupied territories “by diplomatic means.”
Keith Kellogg, the special representative of the newly elected US President Donald Trump for Ukraine, expressed his belief that Ukraine and Russia are ready for peace talks the day before.
On December 6, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that peace in Ukraine is possible only if Ukraine renounces NATO membership and loses part of its territories.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has repeatedly emphasized that Russia is not interested in good-faith negotiations with Ukraine and will sit down at the negotiating table only when it feels that it has achieved maximum concessions on Ukraine’s sovereignty, “in particular, by removing the legitimate government of Ukraine and completely withdrawing from conversations of Ukrainian representatives”.
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