The US State Department has commented on the statement by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the potential of the second Peace Summit and that this time Russia could be invited. At a briefing on July 15, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that "that’s the path that they choose to take," the United States would support it, UNN reports.
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"It’s something that we discussed with them," Miller said in response to whether it was something that "was sort of encouraged" by U.S. officials as Zelensky made the statement after returning to Ukraine from the United States.
"But as we have said before, any decisions around diplomatic negotiations are decisions that Ukraine has to make, not the United States, not any other country that’s not party to the conflict. Ukraine is the victim here. It’s Ukraine that has seen their country invaded, has seen their civilians killed, has seen significant parts of their country occupied, and so it’s for Ukraine to decide when and how and in what shape to undertake diplomatic negotiations," the State Department spokesman emphasized.
"As their partner, as their backer, we will support them if that’s the path that they choose to take. We have always made that clear. And I will note – and this kind of goes to how the Kremlin has responded, at least initially to those statements from Ukraine – we’ve always supported diplomacy when Ukraine is ready, but it has never been clear that the Kremlin is ready for actual diplomacy. That was clear at the beginning of this war when we were pursuing diplomacy and the Kremlin pulled the plug on diplomacy and invaded, and it remains – seems to remain true today. But we will continue to stand with Ukraine, and if and when they believe further diplomatic steps are – with Russia are appropriate, we will support them in that decision," Miller emphasized.