Ukraine will be able to resume peace talks with Russia on a strengthened position at the end of August, said head of the Ukrainian delegation at the talks with Russia, leader of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada David Arakhamia.
“We don’t want to share our plans with the Russians, because they can see it in open sources. But I think we will conduct counteroffensive operations in some places,” he said in a comment to the Voice of America, answering the question of what will happen at the end of August.
To date, the Ukrainian side does not consider the possibility of resuming negotiations. At least, by the time Ukraine does not strengthen its forces, and Russian troops do not return to the positions they were in before February 24, Arakhamia noted.
“The minimum acceptable agreement would be if we kicked them out or they voluntarily retreated to the positions where they were before February 24,” the politician said.
After that, as explained in the negotiating group, it will be possible to talk about the return of all sovereign territories, including Crimea and the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“We could consider some kind of political agreement, like the one we proposed in Istanbul. For example, we have not touched on the Crimean issue for several years. We are not doing this militarily, but we are doing it in a diplomatic and political way,” Arakhamia said.
