russia is open to negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine if initiated by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, but any negotiations should be based on the realities of russian successes. Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva told reporters on Thursday, reports UNN.
The publication notes that Trump has repeatedly criticized the scale of Western aid to Kiev and promised to quickly end the conflict without explaining exactly how. His victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election raised concerns in Kiev and other European capitals about the extent of future U.S. commitment to help Ukraine.
“Trump promised to resolve the Ukrainian crisis overnight. OK, let him try. But we realists, of course, realize that this will never happen,” said Gennady Gatilov, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.
“But if he starts or proposes something to start a political process, that's welcome.
He added that any such talks should be based on what he called “the realities on the ground”, describing Ukraine as lagging behind in more than two years of conflict. Russian forces are advancing in Ukraine at the fastest pace in at least a year and now control about one-fifth of the country, the media outlet said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said that peace cannot be established until all Russian troops are expelled and all territories seized by moscow, including Crimea, are returned. The “Victory Plan” he laid out last month maintained that position, as well as Ukraine's invitation to join NATO, long denounced by russia.
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Zelensky told European leaders in Budapest last week that concessions to russia would be “unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all of Europe.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered the biggest confrontation between moscow and the West since the Cold War, when President Joe Biden led efforts to isolate russia.
gatilov indicated that Trump's election represents a new opportunity for dialog with the United States, but questioned a broader reset of relations, echoing the Kremlin's earlier warning.
“The U.S. political elite, regardless of domestic political shifts, (Washington) has consistently maintained a position of containing Moscow, and this orientation is unfortunately deeply entrenched, and a change of administration can do little to change that,” he said.
“The only shift (that) may be possible is a dialog between our countries, something that has been lacking for the last few years,” he added.