US opposed to frozen conflict in Ukraine, Zelensky's chief of staff says
The U.S. opposes settling Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine as a frozen conflict, Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak said on March 13.
“We have been very clear that we will never agree to a frozen conflict. We are very much against it, and our positions align with our American partners,” Yermak said.
Speaking on national television, Yermak said that the Ukraine-U.S. meeting in Saudi Arabia on March 11 – which he had led – and a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire are just the beginning, with more work ahead.
Kyiv agreed to a temporary truce, provided that Russia did as well. Days after, on March 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is ready to agree to the proposal but demands guarantees that Kyiv will not mobilize or train troops, nor receive military aid during it.
Washington opposed an agreement that would be similar to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum or the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, which failed to prevent or stop Russia’s aggression, Yermak said.
According to Yermak, the Ukrainian and American delegations also agreed that European representatives would participate in the peace process.
Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, said earlier that Europe will not be directly involved in negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but its interests will be considered.
The Kyiv IndependentKate Tsurkan