The United States is willing to take diplomatic steps that the Ukrainian government would find helpful, a State Department spokesperson said on Saturday.
He spoke after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the West should be more involved in negotiations to end the war.
“If there are diplomatic steps that we can take that the Ukrainian Government believes would be helpful, we’re prepared to take them”, the spokesperson said.
“We are working to put the Ukrainians in the strongest possible negotiating position, including by increasing pressure on Russia by imposing severe costs and by providing security assistance to help Ukrainians defend themselves.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday that his country was ready to negotiate to end the war started by Russia’s invasion more than two weeks ago, but would not surrender or accept any ultimatums.,
At a virtual event organized by the non-partisan, nonprofit organization Renew Democracy Initiative, Kuleba said civilian lives would be saved if Ukraine had fighter jets and more attack planes to destroy large military columns.
“We will continue to fight. We are ready to negotiate but we are not going to accept any ultimatums and surrender”, Kuleba said, adding that Russia was putting forward demands that were “unacceptable”.
Commenting on the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the Ukrainian foreign minister said it was besieged but under Ukrainian control.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began late in February has resulted in over 2.5 million refugees, with western countries swiftly moving to isolate Russia from world trade and the global financial system as a result.
