Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine does not want to negotiate compromises

DAccording to its supreme commander, Valeriy Zalushny, the Ukrainian military will not accept any compromises in the country’s liberation from Russian occupation. Saluschnjy announced this after a phone call with US Chief of Staff Mark Milley. “Our goal is to liberate the entire Ukrainian country from Russian occupation,” Zalushnyi wrote on Telegram on Monday. The otherwise reserved general positioned himself against isolated advice from Western supporters that Ukraine should not rule out a negotiated solution.

For the summit meeting of the group of large industrialized and emerging countries (G20) starting this Tuesday in Indonesia, Ukraine is mobilizing international aid on a difficult humanitarian issue: It is about the kidnapping of Ukrainian children to Russia, which is prohibited under international law. At least 11,000 children whose names are known are affected, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in his evening video address. “But those are just the ones we know about. In truth, more have been abducted.”

Clear words against territorial compromises

​“The Ukrainian military will not accept any negotiations, agreements or compromise decisions,” wrote supreme commander Zalushny. He is credited with organizing the Ukrainian army’s successful resistance to the Russian invasion. His statements were aimed at a discussion that is being conducted in the USA, but also in other countries. President Joe Biden’s administration has made it clear that it will support Ukraine as long and as strongly as necessary. Other voices advise not to rule out negotiations.

Milley, Saluschnjy’s interlocutor, said last week that if the front lines stabilized in the winter, there might be a chance of negotiating an end to the conflict. In the face of military defeats, Russia is again emphasizing its alleged willingness to negotiate. However, despite losses of territory, Russian troops still hold almost a fifth of the neighboring country. “There is only one condition for negotiations: Russia must leave all occupied territories,” Zalushny wrote.

Basis for reparation payments

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on Monday that is intended to lay a basis for future reparations from Russia to Ukraine. In New York, 94 countries voted in favor of the resolution, giving the necessary two-thirds majority. 73 countries abstained, 14 voted against – in addition to Russia, including China, Iran and Cuba. In the text, Ukraine is asked to document information about war damage in a kind of register. “The reparations that Russia has to pay for its actions are now part of international legal reality,” said Zelenskyy.

Ukraine searches for abducted children

The head of the Presidential Office in Kyiv, Andriy Yermak, discussed the children kidnapped to Russia in an online conference with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the ambassadors of the G20 to the Russian Federation,” Yermak said. Everything must be done to bring these children back and reunite them with their families. The Russian military and Russian authorities do confirm that children are being brought to Russia from Ukraine. They would be taken to safety from the combat zones or come to Russia for treatment or recovery.

After the recapture of the city of Cherson by Ukraine, the US Department of Defense expects Russian troops to entrench themselves on the opposite east bank of the Dnipro River. Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are on the east side of the river, a senior Pentagon official stressed on Monday. “Our current assessment is that they intend to keep this territory under their control.” There is currently no evidence that Ukrainian units have crossed the river. On the east bank, the Russians hold most of the Kherson region.