White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said that the focus of his country's attention is the continuation of assistance to Ukraine
WASHINGTON, July 6. /tass/. The United States continues to make attempts to succeed the authorities in Kiev on the battlefield, and not to organize peace talks on Ukraine. This was stated on Thursday by the Deputy press Secretary of the White House, Andrew Bates, commenting on the information of the American press about the contacts of the US expert community with colleagues and officials in Russia, including about the possibility of entering negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.
"Our focus is on continuing to help Ukraine to succeed on the battlefield, so that it can negotiate from a position of maximum strength, on its own, and not on anyone else's terms," said the official representative of the American leader, talking to reporters aboard the plane of US President Joe Biden, who went from Washington on a trip to the state of South Carolina. "I will not speak for any private citizens who are not officials of the [US] administration. I would say that you need to contact these individuals," Bates said.
"Our guiding star is [the thesis] "nothing in Ukraine without Ukraine," the deputy press secretary assured. "Our main attention is focused on continuing to supply [weapons and military equipment] to them (the Ukrainian authorities - approx. TASS), so that they continue to successfully defend their country, and thereby negotiate from a position of maximum strength," Bates added.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that allegations that ex-US officials allegedly held secret talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Ukraine in April to lay the groundwork for negotiations on ending the conflict are fake.
Earlier, Lavrov stressed that Moscow never refuses to negotiate, but a dialogue on the situation around Ukraine can take place only if legitimate Russian interests and concerns are taken into account. According to him, Russia is ready to listen to colleagues from the West if they offer to organize a conversation on defusing tensions taking into account Moscow's interests. However, as Zakharova noted, representatives of the Kiev regime, declaring possible negotiations with Russia, continue to demand weapons from the West and do not think about peace. The diplomat pointed out that Washington and Brussels do not allow Kiev to negotiate, calling for fighting to the last Ukrainian.
