The Zelensky government is preparing to negotiate with Russia for the first time part of Crimea

He Ukrainian government has announced that it is willing to negotiate with Russia about him future status of Crimea if he gets his troops recover the lost ground to the border with the peninsula, according to a senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper “Financial Times” (FT). “If we get achieve our strategic goals on the battlefield, and when we reach the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open a diplomatic page to address this issue,” said Andriy SybihaDeputy Head of the Office of the President, Volodimir Zelensky.

Despite everything, the adviser pointed out: “That does not mean that we exclude liberation (of Crimea) by our army”, as part of the counteroffensive that Ukrainian troops are planning for the coming weeks or months. Sybiha emphasized that the talks in the president’s entourage about a possible negotiation exclusively concern Crimea, within the framework of the scheduled counteroffensive.

These statements are, in the FT’s opinion, one of the most explicit signs to date of Ukraine’s intention to negotiate on Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, something that could “relieve” to the countries Westerners who were suspicious of a possible attempt by kyiv to recover the peninsula.

[Zelenski planta cara a Rusia y visita a las tropas en primera línea del frente de batalla en Bakhmut]

So far, Ukraine has publicly ruled out dialogue with Moscow until all Russian troops have been withdrawn from all of its territory, including Crimea. In parallel, the British Ministry of Defense reported today in his daily war part that “most likely” Russia has dismissed the commander of the eastern military group, Colonel General Rustam Muradovas it has been spread through Russian social networks.

According to that report, the unit led by Muradov “has suffered exceptionally heavy casualties” in the fighting southwest of the city of Donetskand has faced criticism even within his own battalion.

London regards it as “the most relevant termination” in the Russian Army so far this year, although he points out that “it is possible that there will be more, while Russia continues to fail in its objectives in the Donbas (this)”.