President Zelensky meets US officials
Ukraine’s lead negotiator has ruled out any ceasefire deal in which Kyiv would cede territory to Russia or allow Russian troops to remain on its land.
Such concessions would backfire as Russia would hit back harder after any break in fighting, said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky who is leading talks with Moscow.
“The war will not stop. It will just be put on pause for some time,” Mr Podolyak said in an interview with Reuters in the presidential office in Kyiv.
“They’ll start a new offensive, even more bloody and large-scale.”
A Kremlin minister today said that sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine have caused serious logistical problems in the country.
Vitaly Savelyev, the Russian transport minister, said Moscow had been forced to look for new trade corridors as sanctions have hit its operation on the standard shipping route to Asian partners.
Earlier, the Russian foreign ministry warned western sanctions would prove destabilising for the world economy.
