Russian officials turned to Ukraine for negotiations to stop the successful counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna announced this in an interview with the French publication France24 on Tuesday, September 13.
Stefanishyna noted that Ukraine is "preparing for the worst-case scenario" in terms of Russian revenge, but has not yet been caught by surprise.
"Stefanishyna said that Russian officials have turned to Ukraine for talks in recent days, but now the country has more leverage and will speak only when it reaches its military goals. She noted that now the Russians are offering negotiations to stop the Ukrainian advance," the publication reports.
The politician also emphasized that the occupied Donbas and annexed Crimea will return to Ukrainian control. Stefanishyna called on European leaders to tighten sanctions against Russia.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on September 13, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov said that the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkiv region was much better than expected.
As of September 13, the Ukrainian military managed to liberate more than 300 settlements in Kharkiv region, where about 150,000 Ukrainians live.
At the same time, the Ukrainian military said that the so-called "regrouping" of Russian troops, as previously stated by the Russian Ministry of Defense, was more like a "mouse escape."
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