Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: Getty).
Pravda reported on November 4th that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected claims that Ukraine's allies and partners were pressuring his administration to negotiate with Russia.
"Everyone knows my position, as well as that of the Ukrainian people. Right now, no one is putting pressure on me. That only happened before and in the early stages of the conflict. However, now, no American or European Union leader is putting pressure on me," Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader further emphasized: "There will never be a time when we sit down to negotiate and make concessions to Russia."
This statement comes after NBC News quoted an unnamed US official as saying that US and European leaders "are quietly in discussions with Ukraine about potential talks with Russia to end the conflict." According to NBC, some of these discussions took place last month.
"These discussions included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to concede in order to reach an agreement," the source said.
NBC noted that this reflects the concerns of Western allies and partners about the stalemate in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as concerns about their ability to continue providing aid to Ukraine.
In a recent interview with The Economist, Ukrainian Chief of General Staff Valery Zaluzhny stated that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has stalled along a broad front line and there will be no significant breakthrough. He predicted the conflict could last for years.
However, Zelensky has denied these comments.
"It's not a stalemate. Russia has air superiority and we are defending our forces. We need to coordinate with our allies to get more air defense equipment, end Russian control of the skies, and give our soldiers a chance to conduct counter-offensive operations," President Zelensky said.
He cited last year's example, when, while everyone thought the fighting was at a stalemate, Ukraine made significant progress in its counteroffensive in Kharkiv, retaking the region from Russia.
Igor Zhovkva, Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine, also said that Zaluzhny should not have said this because it could cause anxiety among Western aid donors.
Ukraine's counteroffensive has lasted more than five months. Officials acknowledge that the pace of the counteroffensive has been slower than expected, but Kyiv has made steady progress. Ukraine is calling on the West to increase aid to support the counteroffensive.
Meanwhile, Russia says that Western countries have begun to tire of providing aid to Ukraine as the war drags on.
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