The U.S. condemns Putin's "peace offer." "It defies the UN Charter, it defies basic morality, it defies basic common sense"
16 June 2024 16:01
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's "peace offer" on Sunday. He emphasized that it is not only contrary to the United Nations Charter but also "defies basic common sense".
"Not only does Ukraine have to give up the territory that Russia currently occupies but Ukraine has to leave additional sovereign Ukrainian territory," Sullivan reminded participants of the conference on Ukraine held in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.
Strong response from the U.S. to Putin's proposal
The U.S. representative pointed out that according to the Russian proposal, Kyiv would also have to disarm. He emphasized that this would leave it defenseless against future Russian aggression.
"No responsible nation can say that this is a reasonable basis for peace. It defies the UN Charter, it defies basic morality, it defies basic common sense," he declared.
Outrageous proposal from Putin
Putin declared on Friday at a meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs leadership in Moscow that the Russian army would cease fire if Ukrainian forces withdrew from the territories annexed by Russia and Kyiv committed to not joining NATO.
According to him, Ukrainian forces should completely withdraw from the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russia announced it was annexing these regions after starting the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As a necessary condition, Putin presented Ukraine's neutral, non-bloc, non-nuclear status.