Russia's demand for Ukraine to recognize new territorial realities cannot be a starting point for talks on a settlement in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

"The last thing I’ll say just because I have the opportunity to address this. 

"There had been a narrative that the Russians were trying to push for many weeks and many months that they’re interested in diplomacy in Ukraine and we are not. 

"That of course is entirely false, but I think you only have to look at Putin’s own words in a recent conversation with President Erdoğan of Türkiye in which he says unless and until Ukraine accepts the new territorial realities, as he put it, there’s nothing to negotiate. 

"In other words, unless and until Ukraine acknowledges and accepts the fact that territory that Russia has seized by force, it’s not getting back, there’s nothing to negotiate. That of course is in and of itself a nonstarter," he noted.