Negotiations on war in Ukraine should be held on Kyiv's terms - State Department

Vedant Patel said this during a press briefing on April 21, 2023.

He noted that Russia and Ukraine cannot be put on the same level, as one country seeks to erase the borders of the other, while the other is trying to protect its life.

“Russia is trying to totally erase and infringe the borders of another country, Ukraine. And they’re doing so by throwing the rules of the UN Charter, the rules of an international based, rules-based order, out the window. They are doing so with aggression. They are doing so by essentially wreaking havoc on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. They are doing it – there are widespread reports of Russian armed forces committing atrocities. So let’s not try to put them – put this on the same page,” he pointed out.

Patel also recalled the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the war will eventually end in negotiations, but this should happen on the terms offered by the Ukrainians.

• In early April, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia were impossible at the time.