Negotiations on Russia's terms completely ruled out, says Kyiv's top negotiator Podolyak
The adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak commented on the four main propaganda ideas of Russia and stated that "there is no and will not be" the transition of the war into a protracted format and the negotiation process on the terms of the Russian Federation.
Podolyak noted that four main propaganda ideas appear in the rhetoric of the Russian Federation at the moment: "frozen conflict", "negotiations", "sanctions do not work", "a split among the military and political leadership of Ukraine".
"Let me translate from Russian-propagandish to objective: 'The Russian Federation is categorically afraid of military defeat and continued pressure on the front line', 'The Russian Federation only needs the capitulation of Ukraine and the preservation of at least part of the occupied territories', 'Russia's resource depletion is too obvious, the military production is depressed, there is a constant search for consumables in Iran/DPRK', 'the Russian Federation categorically wants to provoke an internal political crisis in Ukraine in order not to lose'," he noted.
The adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief-of-staff called on the society to stop deliberately "playing Russian primitive propaganda games".
He emphasized that "there is not and will not be" the transition of the war to a protracted format, because negotiations on the amount of weapons are ongoing, and investments in production are ongoing.
Also, Podolyak assured, "there is not and will not be" a negotiation process on Russia's terms, since "it does not overcome the problem of war, but, on the contrary, increases its scale."
"Sanctions are working – and very effectively – (but the problem of private intermediaries from third countries must be overcome, which partially make it possible to circumvent sanctions); the military and political leadership of Ukraine is in constant effective communication at various platforms – the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff, the Military Cabinet – and is extremely interested in application of the most effective technologies for the destruction of the Russian occupation grouping," wrote Podolyak.
On October 9, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said that he would have an "unpleasant conversation" with those who would talk to him about territorial concessions.
On October 12, Ukraine's top diplomat said that Russia should not be allowed to freeze the conflict, because it will use the pause to regain strength, and not only Ukraine will be under the threat of a new wave of aggression.
On November 8, the US State Department stressed that Washington is not pushing Kyiv to any negotiations with Russia.