Russia’s 'peace calls' are only a tool for bolstering war capabilities - Ukrainian Ambassador to US

Oksana Markarova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States, made her statements at the recent IGP convening on the future of Ukraine.

“Look, nobody wants peace more than Ukraine. This is true. We have to fight because we have to fight. But at the same time, while we're fighting to get the enemy out, we're working on this [diplomatic] solution,” she explained.

The Ambassador stressed that if Putin genuinely wishes to end the war, a simple order to withdraw from Ukraine could achieve that within hours. Such a move, she noted, would pave the way for negotiations.

“And that comes back to the cease fire or the so-called cease fire proposal. First of all, all that is very false narratives from Putin and his clique. This is his war of choice. If he wants to stop this war, it can be done within literally hours. He gives an order to stop the war, get out of Ukraine – this is the end of the war. And then we can negotiate and decide on reparations, on justice, on everything else,” the Ambassador said. 

Russia’s 'peace calls' are only a tool for bolstering operational capabilities, according to Markarova. “That only gives us a task for us to work better on sanctions and isolation. So we can deny him the opportunity to have this war,” she added.

“The cease fire idea is only a [way] to provide operational force to Putin if he needs it, but also to decrease the support of the friends and allies. You know, to spread this propaganda and false information that he would like a cease fire, and things like that... This is a very black-and-white type of case. This is very simple. We have to take it at face value, look at it, see the way it is and just act accordingly,” the Ambassador concluded.