Ukraine’s foreign minister on establishing ceasefire: Time to use all diplomatic tools

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha believes in the possibility of a ceasefire based on the strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and that now is time to use all diplomatic tools to this end.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy said this at a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel in Kyiv in response to a question about whether he believes in a ceasefire deal to be reached.

"I believe in the strength of the Ukrainian people, in the resilience of our people, in the strength of the Ukrainian Army. And I am convinced that all these factors allow us to confidently speak about (the possibility of) achieving a just and sustainable peace for our country... This is in the interest of the restoration of the global order based on international law. Therefore, I am convinced that now is the time for diplomacy, which, of course, must be based on a solid situation on the battlefield, on our Army. Now is the time to use the entire diplomatic toolkit to its maximum. We have all the opportunities for this, there is a new opportunity for this – this is President Trump's proposal to establish a ceasefire," noted Sybiha.

The top diplomat added that Ukraine accepted and supported this proposal because "like no other country in the world, we seek to end the war this year" and achieve a just peace.

In response to the question of what Ukraine's position would be if the country were persuaded to agree to a ceasefire on Russian terms, the Foreign Minister recalled that President Volodymyr Zelensky had repeatedly voiced Ukraine’s "red lines", including that there can be no compromises at the expense of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and that Ukraine will never recognize its temporarily occupied territories as Russian.

As Ukrinform reported, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that immediately after the meeting in Saudi Arabia, the Ukrainian side began working out algorithms for proper monitoring of compliance with a possible ceasefire, as well as the modalities of future peace agreements.