Negotiations are necessary to end the war in Ukraine, but Putin “is not trustworthy,” says Mark Milley

Negotiations are necessary to stop Moscow’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not trustworthy,” said Mark Milley, former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, on June 21.

In a lecture at Princeton University, Milley said that from a military perspective, the war is now at a stalemate because Russia cannot achieve its original goals.

“It is unlikely that anyone can achieve a political solution through military means,” he said in comments reported by Voice of America.

“Therefore, both sides should recognize this and find an alternative method to solve their political problem, and that would be negotiations.”

Milley was not optimistic about that possibility, saying Russia was “obviously not ready to negotiate” and that the decision to start talks rested with Kiev. Kiev has said this will not happen until the Kremlin withdraws all its troops from Ukraine.

“Neither side is willing to negotiate and they will continue to fight each other militarily unless something strange, unforeseen or unexpected happens on the battlefield,” he added.

Putin said on June 14 that Moscow would only initiate a ceasefire and enter into peace talks if Ukraine withdrew from the four Ukrainian regions claimed – but not fully controlled – by the Kremlin.

Russia occupies most of the Ukrainian Luhansk Oblast and large parts of the Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia Oblasts.

The demands also included the recognition of Crimea and Sevastopol as “subjects of the Russian Federation”.

Kiev immediately rejected Putin’s conditions and stressed that the start of peace negotiations would require a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territory.

Selenskyj: Putin’s ultimatum for peace talks is a “revival of National Socialism”

“What he is doing is a revival of Nazism,” Zelensky said. “… He wants us to give up our occupied territories, but he also wants our unoccupied territories. He … has no intention of stopping, and there will be no frozen conflict.”