Confusion about a possible shift in the Ukrainian government’s stance on recovering Crimea from Russian occupation prompted a flurry of public clarifications on Thursday from officials in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration, who reiterated their vow to liberate all of Ukraine’s territory.
The seemingly mixed messaging began after a top Zelensky adviser was quoted on Wednesday as saying that if Ukrainian forces successfully advanced to the Crimean border, Kyiv would be willing to have talks with Moscow about the territory, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. The notion that Ukraine could be open to peace talks before Russian forces withdrew from all of its territory was a marked departure from its previously declared positions.
The Financial Times reported that the adviser, Andriy Sybiha, said in reference to Ukraine’s expected coming offensive: “If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield, and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open [a] diplomatic page to discuss this issue.”
The report said that Mr. Sybiha, a deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, also noted: “It doesn’t mean that we exclude the way of liberation [of Crimea] by our army.”
Other senior officials quickly clarified that allowing Crimea to remain in Russian hands was not on the table, including the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, who stated on Twitter that Ukraine’s agenda remained “the return of all territories of Ukraine,” as outlined in Mr. Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan.
Mykhailo Podolyak, another top adviser, contradicted Mr. Sybiha’s comments more directly, saying that the basis for any negotiations had to be a “complete withdrawal” of Russian forces from Ukraine’s borders as they were internationally recognized after the fall of the Soviet Union. That includes Crimea, he said on Twitter, adding that there was “no question of any territorial concessions or bargaining of our sovereign rights.”
Mr. Sybiha did not return a request for comment by The New York Times, but another deputy head of Mr. Zelensky’s office told Politico that the president’s position on the matter has not changed.
It was not apparent whether Mr. Sybiha’s statement inadvertently went beyond Mr. Zelensky’s publicly stated position or whether it was intended to ease some of the pressure on his administration to seek a diplomatic resolution.
On Thursday, the leaders of France and China made a joint call for peace talks, even as a White House spokesman stressed that Ukraine alone could dictate the terms of any negotiations.
“Only President Zelensky can determine if and when he’s ready to negotiate, and in what context, and over what,” said the spokesman, John F. Kirby.
