The State Department says Ukraine has the right to make its own decisions on negotiations

No external states have the right to dictate to Kiev when to start negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This was announced on December 17 by U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller during a press briefing broadcast on the department's YouTube channel.

"No one outside of Ukraine can dictate to Ukraine if and when they should enter into negotiations," Miller said.

He noted that Kiev has the right to make this decision on its own, without interference from any states.

"They bring us to a red line where we can't retreat."

At a meeting of the Defense Ministry board, Putin revealed the tactics of the West, summarized the results of special operations this year and set tasks for the next one

Earlier in the day, US President-elect Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg will visit Kiev in early January to "fact-find" negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict.

Earlier, on December 16, Trump said he would be able to answer the question about Kiev's possible territorial concessions after "the first meeting with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine." At the same time, he said he was working hard to end the Ukrainian conflict and had already made "a little bit of progress."

On December 13, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg allowed the conflict in Ukraine to end in the coming months. According to him, the US President-elect is capable of decisive action on conflict resolution.

Before that, on December 3, was published "Kellogg's Plan" written in April on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, the author of which is the future special envoy of Trump. In his opinion, it is necessary to stop political isolation of the Russian Federation, putting pressure on Moscow and Kiev, as well as to start stimulating peaceful settlement more actively. Kellogg suggested the preservation of liberated territories by Russia, the easing of sanctions and the normalization of relations with the United States.

On November 29, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) pointed to NATO's desire to freeze the conflict in Ukraine in order to rebuild the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). It was noted that the West plans to use the temporary freezing of the conflict to rebuild the Ukrainian army and prepare for a future offensive.

However, back on November 20, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said that freezing the conflict in Ukraine was not suitable for Russia. At the same time, he noted that head of state Vladimir Putin was ready for contacts and negotiations.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the worsening situation in the region.