US Secretary of State Antony Blinken does not rule out long-term negotiations on Ukraine’s future borders. However, the decision to do so lies with the Ukrainians, he emphasized yesterday before a parliamentary committee in Washington. Any peace agreement must be “just and lasting”. Blinken emphasized that Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity must be preserved.
“But how exactly this will be defined on the territory, we are waiting for the Ukrainians to tell us.” At the same time, the US Secretary of State added: “I think there are areas in Ukraine where the Ukrainians are determined to… ground to fight. And maybe there are areas that they decide they want to try to regain by other means.”
According to observers, the head of US diplomacy let it be known that Washington does not believe that it is likely that Kiev troops will retake all of the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia – especially Crimea.