Taylor: Zelenkyi's call to Putin was bold move

Commenting on the call of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the death of four military personnel in Donbas on August 6, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires a.i. in Ukraine Ambassador William Taylor repeated that it was a bold move.

Censor.NET reports citing UNIAN.

This step demonstrated the moral advantage of Ukraine in this war. Ukraine is trying to end the war. The United States wants Russia to do the same, he said.

The diplomat added that if the Ukrainian side returned fire, civilians, rather than Russia-occupation fighters, would most likely die.

Ukraine has demonstrated that it wants to end the war on its own terms, Taylor said.

The diplomat also did not support the idea of Ukraine withdrawing from the Minsk talks after such a violation of the ceasefire.

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Ukraine, the Minsk Group, the United States want to find a way to resolve the war on conditions favorable to Ukraine. To do this, it is necessary to continue negotiations in Minsk and elsewhere, he said.

At the same time, the diplomat said that U.S. State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker and Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov are discussing the time and availability of opportunities for a meeting.