WASHINGTON, July 6. /TASS/. The US approach to the Ukrainian crisis remains unchanged, and its efforts are focused on strengthening Kiev’s positions at possible talks with Moscow, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
When asked whether Washington was planning to review its position on the conflict in Ukraine following Russia’s latest advancements, she replied: "As the President has said many times: No conversation about Ukraine without Ukraine."
"What we have been trying to do and have been doing for the past several months is to make sure that <…> with our assistance that we have been providing <…> we put Ukraine in the most strongest kind of position so when there is that opportunity to do those negotiations, they’re able to do that," she said. "Our approach does not change. We are going to continue to support Ukraine. We’re going to continue to help Ukraine fight for their democracy, fight for their territorial integrity."
"We have said for months that the fighting in the Donbass <…> could be prolonged and protracted. That is something that we have been saying for some time, and we would see with gains and with losses on both sides. We’re seeing that today," the spokeswoman continued. "But that doesn’t mean that the Russians have been able to achieve their goals, and that doesn’t mean that the Ukrainians have stopped fighting."
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation following a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow's plans did not include an occupation of Ukrainian territories, its goals being the demilitarization and denazification of the country. In response, the West began to gradually introduce sweeping sanctions against Moscow and to supply weapons and military equipment to Kiev estimated at billions of dollars.
Russian-Ukrainian negotiations have been underway since February 28. Several rounds took place in Belarus. More contacts by video link followed. At the end of March, a face-to-face meeting took place in Istanbul. In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the media that Kiev by moving away from the agreements reached at the talks in Turkey, steered this process to a dead end. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov then said that Moscow had handed over to Kiev a clearly worded draft document on agreements and was waiting for a response.
At the same time, Moscow emphasized that the freezing of negotiations was entirely Ukraine’s initiative. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the West the next day after the Russian-Ukrainian meeting in Istanbul forbade Kiev to hold further negotiations with Moscow.