Kuleba: We will not let Russia use language of ultimatums

Ukraine understands that someday it will be necessary to hold talks with Russia on ending the war, but it will not allow Russia to use the language of ultimatums.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this at a briefing at the Global Peace Summit, which was broadcast on Ukrainian television, Ukrinform reports.

"Of course, we understand very well that the moment will come when we will have to talk with Russia. But our position is very clear -- we will not allow Russia to speak the language of ultimatums, as it speaks now," Kuleba said.

According to him, Putin's latest ultimatum did not cause any "appetite" at the summit, because everyone understands that it was done with one simple goal - to create a PR wave on the eve of the Summit.

"Their [Russian] intelligence works quite well. It reported that the Summit would be big and successful, that something had to be done to disrupt it, and they used a 'political nuclear weapon' in the person of Putin. He had to personally try to disrupt our Summit. He failed, there is no serious attitude to his proposals, because [he made] two fundamental mistakes. [The first was] the language of ultimatums and the second -- what kind of demand is this for a sovereign country to leave its own sovereign territory?" Kuleba said.

He said that the Ukrainian Peace Formula was built around the UN Charter, and the war must end with a just peace.

"The war can only be ended by bringing both sides to the negotiating table. Our President wants the strongest position for Ukraine. Yesterday there were voices from the Global South about difficult compromises that must be made. This is not the language we hear from our Western partners," Kuleba said.

As reported, the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine started on June 15 in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock. The topics being discussed at the summit include nuclear security, food security and the humanitarian dimension – the exchange of prisoners and the return of abducted Ukrainian children. The final documents of the summit will be sent to Russia.