GENEVA, October 21. /TASS/. Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, on Thursday said the US convinced the Kiev regime that Ukraine could prevail over Russia on the battlefield.

"The US convinced the Kiev regime that Ukraine could somehow prevail over Russia on the battlefield," he said on Twitter. "This is a huge tragedy for both our countries, as there will be more and more senseless deaths until Washington orders Kiev to sit down at the negotiating table."

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on October 4 put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council that banned any talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. On October 14, the Russian president said that Ukraine's position on talks with Russia had changed the moment Russian troops pulled back from Kiev. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the Ukrainian decision to ban talks as "a Zelensky deadlock".