US Defense Secretary Austin believes the Ukraine conflict will end through negotiations.

According to RIA Novosti, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on October 23 that the conflict in Ukraine would end through negotiations.

"We need to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East and find a way to achieve a transitional phase in Ukraine. We will continue to support Ukraine, as we have said, and they will determine when it is time to sit down at the negotiating table. As I have said before, this conflict will end with negotiations at some point," Pentagon chief Austin said in a conversation with reporters in Rome.

On the same day, commenting to Finnish media, Andrei Yermak, Chief of Staff to the President of Ukraine, stated that Kyiv is ready to discuss a peaceful solution to end the current conflict, provided there is an agreement guaranteeing territorial integrity.

According to Yermak, any proposal that does not take into account Ukraine's sovereignty and its borders will not be accepted.

"Ukraine is ready to discuss all possible options for resolving the conflict if those options address territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the inviolability of its borders," Yermak said.

The statement by the Ukrainian President's Chief of Staff came after reports in Western media suggested that the country was reportedly ready to end the conflict in exchange for Ukraine joining NATO.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with the Financial Times, stated that the first step to ending the conflict is to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure.