Russia Tells U.S. to Account for the Reality on the Battlefield

Russia says U.S. negotiators must reckon with the reality on the battlefield if they want to reach an agreement on the war in Ukraine.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Russian news agency Tass that the key question was how willing the U.S. administration was to invest in finding a genuine solution to the current crisis. He said negotiators needed to consider not only the underlying cause, but also the situation on the ground, which he described as constantly changing.

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The decisive question is to what extent the American administration is willing to invest in finding a real solution to the current crisis, among other things taking into account the situation on the ground.

Ryabkov said the situation was currently not changing in Ukraine’s favor. His comments came as U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were expected to visit both Russia and Ukraine during the weekend.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukraine was preparing to receive the two envoys in Kyiv on Sunday. He said Ukraine wanted to make the visit and talks with the American side as constructive and substantive as possible, adding that the country needed to seek real ways to bring the war to an end.

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Our goal is to make the visit and the negotiations with the American side as constructive and substantive as possible. We need to look for real possibilities for how to bring this war to an end.