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US hopeful talks on Ukraine would start in future, says up to Kiev to establish conditions

According to Julianne Smith, NATO and the US "are in daily contact with Ukrainian military commanders

ROME, November 12. /TASS/. The United States expects that negotiations on Ukraine will start at some point in the future, but believes that it is Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky who should establish conditions for any talks, Julianne Smith, the US Permanent Representative to NATO, said in an interview with Corriere della Sera on Saturday, adding that "Moscow could end the conflict tomorrow if it wanted to."

"Hopefully there will be negotiation at some point in the future. Our president (Joe Biden - TASS) has just said that this war has to end with some agreement, but we want this to be the competence of President Zelensky: he will establish the conditions for sitting at the table, including the respect of the borders and the assuming of responsibility for actions [by the Russian side]," she told the Italian newspaper.

According to the diplomat, NATO and the US "are in daily contact with Ukrainian military commanders." "We share the military strategy, but in the end it is they who must decide what to do because they know what they want to achieve on the battlefield," Smith said. "I really do not see any difference between the US and the Ukrainian approaches," she added.