Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba talks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 26, 2022. /CFP
Ukraine's foreign minister said on Monday that his nation wants a summit within two months at the United Nations with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as mediator to end the war, but Russia will not be invited unless the country faces an "international court" and be prosecuted for supposed war crimes.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also said that the UN is the best venue for holding the summit, because it will not take favor to a certain country and will bring everyone on board. The U.N. spokesman's office had no immediate comment.
When asked about whether Ukraine will invite Russia to participate in the summit, Kuleba said Moscow would first need to face prosecution for war crimes at an international court before his country directly talks with Moscow. He also dismissed Putin's recent calls for negotiations, stating that everything Russia does on the battlefield "proves the opposite".
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed a few days ago that his country is ready for talks to end the war in Ukraine, but suggested that the Ukrainians are the ones refusing to take that step.
Despite Putin's comments and Ukraine mulling a peace summit, their fighting on the battlefield and in the air has never ceased, a sign that peace isn't imminent.
Kuleba said Ukraine will do whatever it can to win the war in 2023, but admitted that diplomacy plays an important role.
"Every war ends in a diplomatic way," he said. "Every war ends as a result of the actions taken on the battlefield and at the negotiating table."
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire a French-made CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, December 26, 2022. /CFP
Russia gave ultimatum, calling on Ukraine to fulfil its proposals
Commenting on Kuleba's proposal, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the state RIA Novosti news agency that Russia "never followed conditions set by others. Only our own and common sense."
Russia has insisted that Kyiv must "recognize the reality on the ground", a reference to Moscow's demand that Ukraine must recognize Russia's sovereignty over the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, a prerequisite for any peace negotiation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave Ukraine an ultimatum on Monday to fulfill Moscow's proposals, including surrendering territory Russia controls, or its army would decide the issue.
"Our proposals for the demilitarization and denazification of the territories controlled by the regime, the elimination of threats to Russia's security emanating from there, including our new lands, are well known to the enemy," TASS, a Russian news agency quoted Lavrov as saying late on Monday.
"The point is simple: Fulfill them for your own good. Otherwise, the issue will be decided by the Russian army," Lavrov said.
Russian and Ukrainian forces have been engaged for months in fierce fighting in the industrial Donbas region. The Ukrainian top military command said on Monday that Russian forces carried out 19 attacks over the past day in the area. Russia's defense ministry said it had advanced its positions in the region and its missile troops and artillery had hit 63 Ukrainian units the previous day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participates in the Conference of Ambassadors of Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 23, 2022. /CFP
Ukraine calls for quick implementation of agreements with U.S.
In a nightly video message on Monday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the situation along the frontline in Donbas "difficult and painful" and required all of the country's "strength and concentration".
Zelenskyy, in his daily video address on Monday, voiced his hope for a quick implementation of agreements with the U.S. reached during his recent visit to Washington. And with about 9 million people across Ukraine without power, and the number of outages gradually decreasing, Zelenskyy said he had reached new agreements regarding assistance for Ukraine's energy industry.
Zelenskyy's visit to the U.S. was his first foreign trip since the conflict started in February, where Ukraine secured a new $1.8 billion military aid package, including a Patriot missile battery. And, according to Kuleba, the aid also includes a U.S. program for Ukrainian troops to complete training faster than usual “without any damage to the quality of the use of this weapon on the battlefield.” And he added that the training will be done outside Ukraine.
Russia has long been criticizing the U.S. aid to Ukraine and saying it pushes an anti-Russia agenda. Lavrov on Monday reiterated that Washington's attempts to preserve its complete ideological hegemony, establish irrevocable dominance and suppress the formation of multi-polar world order will eventually fail.
"Everything that we are currently seeing in Europe... everything that we are seeing on other continents, where U.S. messengers are demanding every state to adopt an anti-Russian position, join sanctions, and stop communication with Russian representatives, all this is a reflection of that very attempt to establish the end of history," Lavrov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying.
He added that in the near future, the West will have less leverage and reduced opportunity when it comes to "steering the global economy," and will be forced to negotiate with other countries.
(With input from agencies)