Ukraine's elections and talks with Russia: US State Department commented

The USA has not held consultations with Ukraine on possible "peace talks" with Russia. This was stated by US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel during a briefing on Tuesday, 7 November.

Any negotiations are left to Ukraine. And, as we have repeatedly said, nothing should happen with Ukraine without Ukraine. We are not aware of any talks with Ukraine about negotiations outside the structure of the peace formula, on which there have been a number of meetings," Vedant Patel said.

He emphasised that it remains very clear that the Kremlin is not interested in negotiating or ending this war and the US is determined to support its Ukrainian partners.

Vedant Patel said that he understood the position of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who believes that it is not the right time to hold elections during the war.

I think it's important to remember that Ukraine is in this position because Russia continues to wage a full-scale illegal war against Ukraine. Ukraine and its people are fighting for survival," Patel said

He stressed that, almost 20 per cent of Ukraine's territory is occupied and tens of millions of its citizens have been forced to leave their homes because of the Russian war, many of them are outside the country as refugees.

In addition, Russia continues to bomb civilian infrastructure across Ukraine on a daily basis.

We have also made clear to our Ukrainian partners our commitment to support not only Ukraine in its struggle, but also our commitment to support a cautious and constitutional approach to maintaining a strong democracy in wartime," Patel said.