Kyiv, Ukraine — Signing a deal with Russia to end the war with Ukraine would be tantamount to making a pact with the devil, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, as pressure mounts on the country to seek an end to more than two years of fighting.
A deal would only buy time for Russian President Vladimir Putin to build up his military and open another, potentially more violent, chapter in the war, Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.
“If you want to sign a pact with the devil, who will then drag you to hell, well, go ahead. That’s Russia,” Podoliak said when asked about the prospects of a peace deal for kyiv, whose forces are engaged in a bloody war of attrition with Moscow’s troops in eastern Ukraine.
“If you sign anything today with Russia that will not make you lose the war and will not make you legally responsible for mass crimes, it will mean that you will have signed a ticket to continue the war on a different scale, with other protagonists, with a different number of people killed and tortured,” he said.
It is a view shared across Zelensky’s camp and widely shared by Ukrainians. But it is increasingly running up against Western pressure as kyiv continues to face difficult frontline conditions against the larger and better-equipped Russian military, as well as uncertainty about the level of future political support from Ukraine’s closest ally, the United States.
War fatigue also appears to be eroding the morale of Ukrainians, who have had to deal with constant bombing, power outages and the loss of loved ones. A poll by the International Institute of Sociology in kyiv found that the number of Ukrainians opposed to territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for peace has continued to decline. It was 55% in July, down from 74% in December.
Zelensky himself has hinted that he is ready to negotiate with Russia for the first time since the full-scale invasion of 2022, suggesting that Moscow should send a delegation to the next global peace summit, scheduled for November.
But Podolyak insisted that a deal now would only delay further violence.
“Yes, this may be a freeze of the conflict for a while. But this means that the Russian Federation will correct its mistakes and modernize its own army,” he said. “An aggressor country did not come to the territory of Ukraine to sign a peace agreement. This is nonsense!”
A lasting peace that works for Ukraine would ensure a steady erosion of Russian military power encompassed by Zelenskyy’s oft-repeated “three tools”: increased military support, effective economic sanctions, and diplomatic pressure to isolate Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was in China, one of Russia’s closest allies, to strengthen ties. Podoliak said the aim was to provide explanations of Ukraine’s positions and why China should play a more active and intensive role in ending the war in accordance with international law.
Few countries are following the twists and turns of the U.S. presidential election as closely as Ukraine. But Zelensky is confident that his government has established good relations with both sides during the U.S. presidential election, Podoliak said.
“Ukraine has good relations with the Republican Party and the Democratic Party,” he explained. “It’s not about personal relations, but only at the level of candidates and leaders. It’s about institutional relations between the parties of the United States and the parties and institutions of Ukraine.”
Some prominent Republican political leaders, including Republican candidate Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, have expressed support for withdrawing vital U.S. military support for Ukraine, and Trump is often portrayed as supportive of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky, however, took advantage of Trump’s nomination and had a phone call with him shortly after the Republican National Convention. Podolyak said the phone call between the two men was positive.
As for the Democratic Party, Podolyak said he has “great sympathy” for President Joe Biden’s administration despite what he calls its slow decision-making on Ukraine.
“But they made all the decisions that Ukraine needed, one way or another: arms supplies to Ukraine, additional authorizations for strikes on the border territories of the Russian Federation, comprehensive diplomatic and informational support to Ukraine, etc.”
Regardless of which party emerges victorious in the November elections, Podolyak said Ukraine will continue to maintain strong relations with the United States.
“No matter who is in charge of the White House, I do not see a scenario in which it would be possible to stop aid to Ukraine,” he said.
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