Although the Kremlin expects the USA to quickly resume mediation efforts to end the war in Ukraine, after the current three-day ceasefire, negotiations “will be at a standstill” until Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donbas, stated Yuri Ushakov, the adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible for the negotiations. Ushakov said that “anyway, sooner or later”, Ukraine will have to give up the Lugansk and Donbas regions, reports Agerpres.
“Until Ukraine takes this step, we can have dozens more rounds of negotiations, but we will be marking time, do you understand? That’s the problem”, Ushakov stated, according to the official Russian news agency TASS.
The authorities in Kiev will realize, sooner or later, that the withdrawal of their forces from Donbas is inevitable, he added further.
“In Ukraine, they know they have to do this and, anyway, they will do it sooner or later,” declared Ushakov, former Russian ambassador to the USA.
The withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas is one of the most important conditions set by Moscow for a peace agreement with Kiev.
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