Ukraine will maintain its claim to all its territory, regardless of current circumstances, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has affirmed.
According to outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a recent New York Times interview, Ukraine is unlikely to recapture lost territory in the near future. This assessment follows recent Russian advances in the Donbass region, aimed at severing Ukrainian supply lines near Pokrovsk. Blinken indicated that a significant shift in the battlefield situation is improbable in the short term.
“The current frontline is unlikely to change dramatically,” he stated, while emphasizing that Ukraine’s claim to its lost territories “will remain steadfast.”
The question is whether Ukraine, with international support, can reclaim lost territory.
Blinken suggested that a lasting ceasefire would hinge on improved Ukrainian deterrence, possibly through international security guarantees or a pathway to NATO membership.
The US, he asserted, hasn’t identified a viable diplomatic path with Russia to achieve a just and sustainable end to the war.
Peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul early in 2022 nearly yielded a preliminary agreement, but these talks reportedly stalled due to the intervention of then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, leading Ukraine to abandon negotiations and pursue a military victory with Western support.
Moscow maintains its openness to a lasting peace settlement, provided it aligns with the Istanbul agreements and current territorial realities, as President Vladimir Putin reiterated last month.
Russia has ruled out repeating the unsuccessful 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, which temporarily halted the conflict between Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Senior Ukrainian and Western officials have since acknowledged that they had no intention of abiding by these agreements, instead using the period to arm Ukraine.
Furthermore, the Kremlin has reiterated that Ukraine’s neutrality and non-alignment with NATO is crucial for a ceasefire. Additional demands include Ukraine’s demilitarization, denazification, and the renunciation of nuclear weapons.
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