Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Ukraine prefer war: Negotiating with Moscow would be capitulation: Ukraine

Ukraine prefer war: Negotiating with Moscow would be capitulation: Ukraine

The West's attempts to persuade Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow, after a series of major military victories by Kiev, are "bizarre" and amount to asking for its capitulation, a key adviser to the Ukrainian presidency said.
"When you have the initiative on the battlefield, it's slightly bizarre to receive proposals like: 'you will not be able to do everything by military means anyway, you need to negotiate," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak.

This would mean that the country "that recovers its territories, must capitulate to the country that is losing," he added, during an interview with AFP at his office in the presidency building in Kyiv.

US media recently reported that some senior officials were beginning to encourage Ukraine to consider talks, which Zelensky has so far rejected without a prior withdrawal of Russian forces from all Ukrainian territory.

"There has to be a mutual recognition that military victory is probably in the true sense of the word maybe not achievable through military means," top US General Mark Milley said earlier this month, estimating that there is "a window of opportunity for negotiation".

According to Podolyak, Moscow has not made "any direct proposal" to Kiev for peace talks, preferring to transmit them through intermediaries and even raising the possibility of a ceasefire.


Negotiating 'makes no sense' 

Kiev sees such talk as mere manoeuvring by the Kremlin to win some respite on the ground and prepare a new offensive.

"Russia doesn't want negotiations. Russia is conducting a communication campaign called 'negotiations'," the Ukraine presidential adviser said.

"It will simply stall for time. In the meantime, it will train its mobilised forces, find additional weapons" and fortify its positions," he warned.

Despite Russia's heavy military defeats in recent weeks, including Ukraine retaking the key southern city of Kherson, President Vladimir Putin still thinks "he can destroy Ukraine, this is his obsession" and negotiating with him "makes no sense", Podolyak argued.

He denied the West was trying to pressure Ukraine into negotiating.

"Our partners still think that it is possible to return to the pre-war era when Russia is a reliable partner".

Following massive Russian withdrawals from the Kyiv region in March, then from the Kharkiv region in the northeast in September, the liberation of Kherson this month marked a "fundamental" turning point in the conflict, according to Podolyak.

Spurred on by its string of military victories, Ukraine can "afford no pause" in its counter-offensive, despite the arrival of winter cold and snow that make the situation on the ground more difficult.

"Today, even a little pause just adds to the losses suffered by Ukraine," said the official.


Longer range missiles

Moscow has been shelling the country's energy infrastructure for weeks, plunging millions of homes into darkness.

The regions of Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine and Lugansk in the east are now the "key directions" for the army, Podolyak said, while refusing to speculate on the possibility of a military operation to retake the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed back in 2014.

Ukrainian authorities are calling for an increase in Western arms deliveries, which is "very important" in winter, he added.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used his first visit to Kyiv on Saturday to offer a major new air defence package, including 125 anti-aircraft guns.

"We still need 150 to 200 tanks, about 300 armoured vehicles," a hundred artillery systems, 50-70 multiple rocket launcher systems, including the formidable American HIMARS, of which Ukraine already has several units, as well as "10 to 15 anti-aircraft defence systems to close the sky," said Podolyak.

He also cited US ATACMS missiles, which have a range of 300 kilometres (185 miles). The range of the weapons currently available to Ukraine barely exceeds 80 kilometres.

For Podolyak, such missiles would "bring the end of the war closer" by allowing Ukraine to "destroy large Russian military depots" located deep in occupied areas which are currently inaccessible.

Kyiv "doesn't need" to attack military targets inside Russia, the adviser said.

"The war will end when we regain control of our borders and when Russia is afraid of Ukraine."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Unelected PM of the UK holds an emergency meeting because a candidate got voted in… which he says is a threat to democracy…
Farmers break through police barriers in Brussels.
Ukraine Arrests Father-Son Duo In Lockbit Cybercrime Bust
US Offers $15 Million For Info On Leaders Of Cybercrime Group Lockbit
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
Alexei Navalny: UK sanctions Russian prison chiefs after activist's death
German economy is in 'troubled waters' - ministry
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
Tucker Carlson says Boris Johnson wants "a million dollars, in Bitcoin or cash, from Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine.
Russia is rebuilding capacity to destabilize European countries, new UK report warns
EU Commission wants anti-drone defenses at Brussels HQ
Von der Leyen’s 2nd-term pitch: More military might, less climate talk
EU Investigates TikTok for Child Safety Concerns
EU Launches Probe Into TikTok Over Child Protection Under Digital Content Law
EU and UK Announce Joint Effort on Migration
Ministers Confirm Proposal to Prohibit Mobile Phone Usage in English Schools
Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has died at the Arctic prison colony
Tucker Carlson grocery shopping in Russia. This is so interesting.
France and Germany Struggle to Align on European Defense Strategy
‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption Rights
Russia "Very Close" To Creating Cancer Vaccines, Says Vladimir Putin
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Europeans will lose Europe, the Union's policy must change drastically
Microsoft says it caught hackers from China, Russia and Iran using its AI tools
US Rejects Putin's Ceasefire Offer in Ukraine
The Dangers of Wildfire Smoke and Self-Protection Strategies
A Londoner has been arrested for expressing his Christian beliefs.
Chinese Women Favor AI Boyfriends Over Humans
Greece must address role in migrant vessel disaster that killed 600: Amnesty
Google pledges 25 million euros to boost AI skills in Europe
Hungarian President Katalin Novák Steps Down Amid Pardon Controversy
Activist crashes Hillary Clinton's speech, calls her a 'war criminal.'
In El Salvador, the 'Trump of Latin America' stuns the world with a speech slamming woke policing after winning a landslide election
Trudeau reacts to Putin's mention of Canadian Parliament applauding a former Ukrainian Nazi in his interview with Tucker Carlson.
The Spanish police blocked the farmers protest. So the farmers went out and moved the police car out of the way.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy fires top Ukraine army commander
Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin raises EU concerns
Finnish Airline, Finnair, is voluntarily weighing passengers to better estimate flight cargo weight
Russia's Economy Expands by 3.6% Due to Increased Military Spending
Ukraine MPs Vote To Permit Use Of Dead Soldiers' Sperm
German Princess Becomes First Aristocrat To Pose Naked On Playboy Cover
UK’s King Charles III diagnosed with cancer
EU's Ursula von der Leyen Confronts Farmer Protests Amid Land Policy Debates
Distinguishing Between Harmful AI Media and Positive AI-Generated Content: A Crucial Challenge for the EU
Tucker Carlson explains why he interviewed Putin
Dutch farmers are still protesting in the Netherlands against the government, following the World Economic Forum's call for 'owning nothing.'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stands up for European farmers and says, 'Brussels is suffocating European farmers.
×