Moscow insists on no concessions in Ukraine despite talks offer

Moscow once again confirms that it does not intend to back down on the issue of Ukraine. "There can be and will be no territorial concessions in Donbas and Novorossiya. They are part of Russia," announced Valentina Matvienko, Chairwoman of the Federation Council, at a press conference. A few minutes earlier, she claimed that "Russia is ready to negotiate with Ukraine."

Much of the information provided by Russian media or government officials is part of propaganda. These reports are part of the information war conducted by the Russian Federation.

"The new, newly united regions, the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson region, are now an integral part of Russia, which is enshrined in our constitution," said Matvienko. "Our constitution forbids any ceding of the territory of the Russian Federation. This is necessary for everyone to hear, and in these four united territories, there can be and will be no territorial concessions," she added.

Shortly before this statement, Matvienko said, "Russia is ready to negotiate with Ukraine, but will agree to do so if it receives guarantees of ensuring national security and sovereignty of the Russian Federation."

"We are ready to negotiate if we definitely have guarantees that this will not be another distraction from achieving our goals, if there are strict guarantees provided by Russia ensuring national security and sovereignty of the Russian Federation, guarantees and readiness to implement them in case of signing peace agreements," she added.

The day before, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an interview with the newspaper "Le Monde," said that he does not "rule out holding a referendum on the future fate of Ukrainian territories to end the war," but that "it requires the will of the Ukrainian people."

According to the president, Ukraine should not liberate all its territories by "force and weapons" because this option "costs us a lot of time and human lives." Zelenskiy added: "We can return our territories through diplomatic means."

In mid-July, the portal zn.ua published the survey results, which showed that slightly less than half of Ukrainians believe it is time to start negotiations with Russia.

Respondents were asked the question: "Do you think it is time to start official peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia?"

44 percent were in favor, 35 percent were against. 21 percent could not give a definite answer.

The most supporters of peace negotiations with Moscow live in the southern part of the country – 60 percent. Next is the central part – 49 percent. The fewest supporters of negotiations with Russia are residents of eastern and western Ukraine (33 percent and 35 percent, respectively).

In June, Putin announced the conditions for a ceasefire in Ukraine and the start of peace negotiations. He demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the parts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions not occupied by the Russian army and Ukraine's refusal to join NATO. This proposal was rejected in Kyiv, considering it an ultimatum.