First deputy foreign minister: Ceasefire talks futile without U.S., Europe at table

This was stated by First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, who spoke in a podcast by Natalia Moseychuk's, Ukrinform reports.

“The United States will remain a key element of European security in the foreseeable future. Therefore, holding serious talks about either monitoring, or a ceasefire, or security guarantees without the U.S. and the Europeans is futile. This can be done, but ultimately military-political, financial, and other factors indicate that without the real involvement of the U.S. and the Europeans, it is impossible to resolve the largest conflict on the European continent,” he said.

The diplomat emphasized that this is Ukraine's political position, which the delegation spoke about at the first meeting with the Russian side in Istanbul on May 16. Kyslytsya added that U.S. Secretary of State and Acting National Security Advisor Marco Rubio is aware of this.

“I think that ultimately we will all end up in the same room,” the deputy minister concluded.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the second round of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia took place in Istanbul on June 2. The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, assessed the actions of the Russian delegation during the negotiations as an attempt to create a "picture of diplomacy" for the U.S. without real action taken.

President Volodymyr Zelensky named the condition for the third round of negotiations with the Russian side in Istanbul. According to the president, it will be possible to continue these negotiations only in the format of discussing the document laying down no ultimatums from the Russian side. Meanwhile, he added, the Russian memorandum does not look like a document on de-escalation.

Photo: MFA