'I don't believe peace negotiations are happening' — Ukrainian diplomat

Oleksandr Khara, Director of the Centre for Defence Strategies, stated this on Espreso TV.

"It seems to me that Ukraine's negotiating line was correct (in Davos, - ed.), we tried to keep the Americans involved in the matter, at least neutral rather than pro-Russian. Meanwhile, extracting from our partners what they can give us in terms of security. Of course, these are not security guarantees, I constantly say this, and I'm sorry that the President of Ukraine, the Ukrainian team, despite the positives, are misleading us by calling these security guarantees. No one is going to deploy a nuclear umbrella to deter Russia in the future. This is deterrence by denial, yes, meaning deterrence by prohibition. And no one is going to fight alongside us in the next war with Russia. That is, in conventional terms, I mean. But what is being done—both the legal and political commitments to help us with money, weapons, training, and so forth—this is, of course, a positive thing. And this is the most important thing that I value as an achievement in this crazy, so-called peace process," he said.

Oleksandr Khara noted that in his opinion, there are currently no peace negotiations taking place.

"Because I don't believe peace negotiations are happening, since peace presupposes certain preconditions—that several parties, well, at least Russia and Ukraine, are ready to talk about something and seek some compromises. The Russian Federation is not ready for this; they have resources, and the maximalist goals of the führer of the Russian world remain unchanged. Moreover, he now sees, well, a phased breakdown. Thank God, by the way, the European Parliament voted for those 90 billion euros for Ukraine over the next couple of years. But the United States is playing such a game that allows Putin to hope that it's ultimately possible to destroy this unity of support for Ukraine and force Ukraine into something we haven't lost, something that isn't even in the cards," he added.