MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky needs to initiate talks with Russia on his own because the West will not give him such instructions, Alexander Dubinsky, an opposition-minded member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament), said.

"Neither the economy nor the conscription system nor the defense industry is capable of working miracles in the current situation, amid the government’s complete decay and incompetence," he wrote on Telegram. "No one will give Zelensky instructions to launch talks [with Russia] because no one wants to take on political responsibility," Dubinsky said, adding: "Zelensky has to make this decision on his own."

The lawmaker is confident that Western leaders will put indirect pressure on the Ukrainian president. "Partners and 'allies' are working to ensure the pressure of circumstances. The empty Ramstein [platform] will be one of them," Dubinsky noted.

On June 14, Putin set forth the conditions for resolving the situation in Ukraine at a meeting with senior Foreign Ministry officials. His terms included Ukraine withdrawing troops from Donbass and Novorossiya and abandoning plans to join NATO. In addition, Moscow said that all Western sanctions must be lifted and Ukraine’s non-bloc and non-nuclear status must be guaranteed, while Ukraine must ensure the rights, freedoms and interests of its Russian-speaking citizens. Putin noted that if Ukraine and the West turned down the initiative, the conditions might change for the worse in the future. Kiev rejected Russia’s peace plan. After the launch of a massive Ukrainian attack on Russia’s borderline Kursk Region on August 6, Putin stated that negotiations with a government targeting civilians made no sense.