White House Says Only Zelensky Gets to Determine When Negotiations Will Happen

The White House said Wednesday that it sees no prospects for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and that it’s up to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to decide when talks will happen.

“Neither side is in a position to sit down and negotiate,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, according to The New York Times. He said that “if and when it comes to the table,” Zelensky “gets to determine when that is; he gets to determine what success looks like, and he gets to determine what or what he is not willing to negotiate with the Russians.”

Kirby’s comments are the latest confirmation that the US has no interest in pursuing diplomacy with Russia despite President Biden’s recent warning that there is a greater risk of nuclear “armageddon” today than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Russia has recently signaled that it is willing to hold talks, with the Kremlin saying its goals in Ukraine can be achieved through negotiations, but Zelensky has shown no interest. In response to Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territories it controls, Zelensky signed a decree ruling out talks with Russia while Vladimir Putin is president, essentially calling for regime change in Moscow before negotiations can happen.