Moscow has not officially contacted Kyiv about peace negotiations, but Russia would in any case need to completely withdraw its forces for talks to get place, a major Ukrainian formal said Saturday, Nov. 19.

“We have not any formal application from the Russian facet about… negotiations,” Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian presidential chief of workers, claimed in English remarks created through movie website link at the Halifax Intercontinental Security Discussion board.

Any talks not dependent on Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity within the limits of its internationally acknowledged borders are “not appropriate,” he stated.

“The first ways it’s needed to do from the Russian facet is to withdraw all Russian troops from Ukrainian territory,” Yermak extra.

His remarks came a day immediately after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the plan of a “short truce” with Russia, saying it would only make factors worse.

“Russia is now wanting for a quick truce, a respite to get back toughness. Someone could call this the war’s close, but these kinds of a respite will only worsen the circumstance,” the Ukrainian chief reported in remarks broadcast at the very same safety discussion board.

“A definitely true, long-long lasting and sincere peace can only be the consequence of the entire demolition of Russian aggression,” Zelensky reported.

The White Household mentioned Friday that only Zelensky can decide when to open up peace talks with Russia, rejecting the notion that it was urgent Kyiv to negotiate an stop to the virtually 9-month war sparked by Moscow’s February invasion.

Normal Mark Milley, the top US armed service officer, has nevertheless instructed in current weeks that Kyiv could just take gain of battlefield victories around Moscow’s forces and open talks toward ending the conflict.

Milley explained Wednesday that while Ukraine has obtained crucial successes, Moscow nevertheless controls some 20 % of the country, and that it is not likely Kyiv’s troops will pressure the Russians to stop the place shortly.