Ukraine rules out secret peace talks with Russia, Kremlin ‘must leave Ukraine’ for peace deal to work, says Kuleba

He also said that the basis for a peace deal is respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“From diplomatic to plain language, it means that Russia must leave Ukraine,” Kuleba said.

“Until that happens, until they are ready to do that, there is no point in holding any negotiations.”

Ukrainian and Russian delegations are currently discussing three main issues, as reported by The Washington Post on Oct. 25: the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of the bodies of deceased soldiers, the passage of ships through the Black Sea, and the repatriation of Ukrainian children from Russia.

Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, Ukrainian officials have consistently rejected peace talks with Russia.

On Oct. 21, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, firmly stated that negotiations with Russian Federation would not occur until it withdrew its troops.

On Oct. 22, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder revealed that Ukraine had requested his mediation in talks with Russia at the war's onset, but no agreement on this had been reached.

On Sept. 30, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree issued by the National Security and Defense Council, making negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin impossible.

This move came in response to Russia's attempt to annex occupied Ukrainian territories.