Kiev’s Western backers also believe the country should make its own decisions, Dmitry Kuleba has said
No one can compel Ukraine to hold peace talks with Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said. His comments came as Kiev signaled it was open to negotiations with the Russian leadership despite having enacted a legal ban on doing so.
In an interview with the Ukrainian broadcaster TSN on Thursday, Kuleba provided a glimpse into the three-hour talks he had with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi earlier this week. Kuleba’s visit to China was the first since the Ukraine conflict began in February 2022. The Chinese have consistently urged Moscow and Kiev to end hostilities.
Asked whether Beijing could “stand on the side of Ukraine,” Kuleba unequivocally stressed that “China would stand only on the side of China,” but added that the country supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The diplomat also underscored that “no one is inclining Ukraine to negotiations because it is impossible to do so… we will make our own decisions,” he explained, a stance he said is also shared by Kiev’s backers in the West.
China also strives for a “just and lasting peace” according to Kuleba, and is not interested in temporary solutions. However, he did not elaborate on Beijing’s idea of a just peace. “Leave that to the diplomats,” Kuleba said.
The minister’s trip to China came as Vladimir Zelensky signaled that he wanted to end the conflict “as soon as possible” and was ready to engage with Russia “whether it was [President Vladimir] Putin or not” at the helm of the country. This contrasts with a presidential decree Zelensky signed in the autumn of 2022, which barred all talks with the current leadership in Moscow. He introduced the ban after four former Ukrainian regions voted overwhelmingly to join Russia.
China and Russia announced “no limits” to their cooperation in early 2022 and Beijing has maintained neutrality since the start of the conflict, refusing to support Western sanctions against Moscow and calling for negotiations to end hostilities. It has also said that NATO expansion – which Moscow views as an existential threat – was one of the key causes of the Ukraine crisis.
Russia has always been open to talks with Ukraine, but the two sides should first decide on the details, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated that Zelensky’s signals on peace talks are not credible, and said she believes the West intends to wage war “until the last Ukrainian.”
