Kuleba: "Not interested in peace negotiations" - US basketball player safe at home after arrest in Russia

Created: 2022-12-10 04:45

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

In the midst of the Ukraine war, delegations from the USA and Russia meet in Istanbul.

According to Moscow, these are bilateral problems.

• Kuleba

  on

  Russia

  : The Ukrainian Defense Minister sees no end to the Ukraine war.

• USA-Russia meeting

  in

  Istanbul

  : It's about problems in bilateral relations.

• This

  news ticker on diplomatic developments

  in the Ukraine war is constantly updated.

Update from December 9, 9:40 p.m

.: The US basketball player Brittney Griner returned to her homeland almost ten months after her arrest in Russia.

A plane with the 32-year-old on board landed in the US state of Texas early Friday morning (local time).

The US had exchanged Griner for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

"We confirm that Brittney Griner arrived at San Antonio Military Base in Texas (...) and that she (...) was transferred to Brooke Military Medical Center," a spokesman for the military medical facility said on Friday.

The basketball player was "in a good mood," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on MSNBC on Friday.

In a statement, Griner's family expressed their "sincere gratitude" to US President Joe Biden and his administration "for the tireless work they have done to bring Brittney home."

The basketball player was exchanged for arms dealer Bout, who had previously been released from US custody, at Abu Dhabi airport on Thursday.

Negotiations on the Ukraine war: Putin disappointed by Merkel because of the statement on the Minsk agreement

Update from December 9th, 9:00 p.m

.: “This is disappointing.

I didn't expect to hear that from the former Chancellor," Vladimir Putin said on Friday in Bishkek about Germany's ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).

Merkel had previously said in an interview with Die

said: "I thought the initiation of NATO accession for Ukraine and Georgia, which was discussed in 2008, was wrong.

The countries neither had the necessary prerequisites for this, nor had the consequences of such a decision been fully considered, both with regard to Russia's actions against Georgia and Ukraine and to NATO and its rules of assistance.

And the 2014 Minsk agreement was an attempt to give Ukraine time.

She also used this time to get stronger, as you can see today.

The Ukraine of 2014/15 is not the Ukraine of today.”

Putin now classifies Merkel's interview as follows: "These statements prove that the decision to launch a military operation was correct and perhaps all of this should have started earlier."

And he becomes even more fundamental: “There is also the question of trust in the West, which is almost zero.

We are ready for agreements, we are open, but that makes us think about who we are dealing with.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: 17.7 million Ukrainians in need of humanitarian aid

Update from December 9, 5:50 p.m

.: About 17.7 million Ukrainians are dependent on humanitarian aid because of the war.

That said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on the occasion of Human Rights Day.

Ukraine is in a humanitarian emergency.

On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a candlelight vigil to mark Human Rights Day.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a vigil on Human Rights Day © Ukrainian Presidential Press Off/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa.

Ukraine war: Ukraine's defense minister says Russia is not interested in peace talks

December 9 update,

5:10 p.m.: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dimitri Kuleba said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that peace negotiations with Russia are currently not in sight.

Despite assertions to the contrary, Russia is not interested in peace negotiations either.

“They are preparing for new battles and attacks.

There is nothing to suggest that they want peace negotiations," he said.

In the interview, Kuleba also spoke about Ukraine's right to fly attacks on Russia.

Ukraine-News: Vladimir Putin comments on peace negotiations in the Ukraine war

Update from December 9, 4:10 p.m .:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has commented on negotiations in the Ukraine war and a possible end to the war.

"The solution process as a whole, yes, it may not be easy and will take time," the Russian agency TASS quoted the Kremlin chief from his speech at the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Kyrgyzstan.

He also stated that while Russia is ready for negotiations, there must be "trust".

Regarding former Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent words that the Minsk agreements were intended to buy time for Ukraine, Putin said: "I've often said that we're ready for talks, but statements like this make us wonder who we are with have to do with it.” Putin described Merkel’s words as “unexpected and disappointing”.

The participants in possible negotiations would have to "accept the new realities of the world one way or the other," the Russian ruler said.

Ukraine-News: Lukashenko speaks of "unacceptable" demands from Kiev

Update from December 9, 3 p.m.:

The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko has described Ukraine’s conditions to Russia for negotiations on the Ukraine war as “unacceptable”.

Russia would not accept demands for Russian troops to withdraw from annexed areas, Lukashenko said, according to Russian state agency TASS.

In addition, Lukashenko emphasized that negotiations must finally be conducted "quietly and calmly".

War in Ukraine: Russian delegation meets with US officials in Turkey

First report from December 9th:

Munich – The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has been going on for more than 9 months.

After countless developments on the battlefield, however, there are still no possible negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war.

However, there are diplomatic meetings between the US, Ukraine's main supporter, and Russia.

According to Moscow, American and Russian delegations met in Turkey on Friday (December 9).

US-Russia meeting in Istanbul: Russian diplomat sees “simple working meeting”

Turkey often plays an important role in talks behind the Ukraine war.

The heads of the secret services of Russia and the USA met in Ankara in mid-November.

The most recent meeting in the city of Istanbul was apparently about the work of the diplomatic missions in the other country, as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to the TASS agency.

"The relevant departments" discussed problems in bilateral relations, Ryabkov said at an event hosted by the Valdai Club.

At the same time, the Russian diplomat emphasized: "This is not a political signal that we are resuming talks with the USA on major issues." It was just a "simple working meeting".