Blinken on peace talks: Ukraine would respond if Putin showed serious interest

If Russian dictator Vladimir Putin showed real interest in engaging in serious negotiations, Ukraine would respond to this but the Kremlin has been demonstrating exactly the opposite.

That’s according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke at a joint briefing with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The decision to engage in any peace talks with Russia is up to Ukraine to make, not the U.S. or any other country, Blinken noted.

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“So if I imagine that if Putin showed any interest in seriously engaging in negotiations, I'm sure Ukrainians would respond to that. But what Putin is demonstrating every single day is exactly the opposite. But fundamentally, these are questions for Ukraine to answer,” said America’s top diplomat.

There “never will be anything about Ukraine without Ukraine,” the Secretary of State concluded.

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As Ukrinform reported earlier, on Tuesday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to Kyiv, said the U.S. remains committed to ensuring Ukraine’s battlefield success.