The State Duma reminded the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry about the advantage of the Russian Armed Forces on the front line

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's statements about the impossibility of territorial concessions and the need to join NATO show that Kiev is determined to escalate. However, the Russian Armed Forces (RF Armed Forces) currently retain an advantage on the frontline and Moscow will dictate the terms. This statement was made by Yury Shvytkin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, in a conversation with Izvestia on December 5.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said earlier in the day that Kiev was not ready to make concessions on the territories. He emphasized that Kiev needed "geopolitical certainty" on Ukraine as part of the Euro-Atlantic community. Prior to that, the diplomatic ministry emphasized that it did not consider any security guarantees other than NATO membership.

"These statements confirm that the pro-fascist Kiev regime aims at further escalation of this conflict. At the same time, we have repeatedly emphasized that our armed forces, thanks to the heroism of soldiers and officers, have had serious successes on the front. Thus, today we are dictating the terms of settlement," Shvytkin emphasized.

He also added that Russia is set for a peaceful solution to the conflict, but only taking into account the national interests and the tasks of the special operation set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I think that these statements by Kiev are related to the messages of Western countries. I have repeatedly noted that [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky with expired powers is only an executive carrying out NATO's instructions. The NATO bloc, in turn, is not interested in preserving the Ukrainian people. It is interested in weakening our country by the hands of Ukraine," the MP said.

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At the same time, also on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal newspaper, citing a source, reported that the Ukrainian side is ready to start negotiations on a sustainable peace with Russia. The piece notes that "conflict-weary Ukraine" is ready for a ceasefire if it is allowed to join NATO. Commenting on this, political analyst Dmytro Solonnikov told Izvestia that Ukraine would actually like to freeze the front and stop the advance of the Russian army, rather than achieve peace.

Prior to that, on December 3, The New York Times reported that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged the Ukrainian leadership to postpone talks with Russia until more military aid is received to allow Kiev to engage in dialog "on strong positions." The next day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted in a conversation with Izvestia that there were no grounds for negotiations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin named the conditions for negotiations on Ukraine at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry back in June. Thus, Ukrainian troops should leave the territories of the new regions of the Russian Federation and Kiev should give up the idea of NATO integration.

The last round of negotiations took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow. On October 4 of the same year, the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on the impossibility of holding talks with Putin was put into effect.