The White House said on Friday that only Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could decide to open peace talks with Russia, dismissing the notion that it was urging Kyiv to negotiate.

“We all agree that if (Russian President Vladimir) Putin simply withdraws his troops, a negotiated diplomatic settlement is the next best thing,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

“We also said that Zelensky can determine if and when he is ready for negotiations and what those negotiations look like,” Kirby told reporters.

“No one from the United States is pushing, shoving, or pushing him to the table.”

The comment came two days after the Pentagon’s top general, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, suggested that after its major battlefield victories and with Russian forces significantly weakened, Kyiv could take advantage and begin talks to end the war.

Milley said it was unlikely that Ukrainian forces would soon be able to retake all of Russia-held country, particularly Crimea, which Moscow occupied in 2014.

But Kirby stressed that there was no pressure and the US was not taking any action of its own.

“We will not have talks with the Russians about ending this war in Ukraine without Ukraine being part of that talk,” he said.

“These talks are not taking place because President Zelenskyy has made it clear that he is not ready,” Kirby said.

“And you can’t blame him,” he said of Zelenskyy, because Moscow itself had signaled that it was not willing to talk.