US Secretary of State says he discussed Ukraine peace proposal with G7 leaders and it’s ‘a good start’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington on Thursday. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he discussed the Kyiv peace proposal with his Group of Seven (G7) colleagues this morning after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington.
“I can only tell you that we are looking at what he has presented. I’ve just been on video with our G7 partners this morning. And this is one of the things we talk about,” Blinken told CNN’s Kylie Atwood.
Blinken called Zelensky’s peace proposals “a good start.”
“These are things that everyone should be able to join, one way or another,” he said.
Blinken did not say how long it would take for the United States and Ukraine to evaluate the plan together. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the two sides agreed to review the plan yesterday at a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Zelensky.
What borders would Ukraine accept in a peace deal? Blinken said the United States and Ukraine have agreed to the overall ongoing peace effort. He did not respond more directly to the question of whether Kyiv would accept the goal of regaining territory up to its borders before the February 24 invasion. Blinken has previously said that is the US approach, while Zelensky has outlined broader visions for retaking the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.
“What is clear from all our talks with Ukraine, including yesterday’s talks between President Biden and President Zelensky, is that we have the same objectives, the same goals: a free and independent, prosperous and democratic Ukraine that shows that it will they are respecting the principles of the United Nations charter, including territorial integrity and sovereignty and independence, and that is something the president reiterated yesterday,” Blinken said.
Blinken said that Ukraine has told the US that it is currently focused on retaking its eastern and southern territory that it has been occupied since February.
“But that in no way prejudges where this is going, where it sits,” Blinken said at his year-end press conference, stressing that it would be up to Ukraine to decide what a “just and lasting” peace would look like.
Blinken also reiterated that Russia has shown “no significant interest” in diplomacy to end the war.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that his administration has always been open to talks and that “it was the Ukrainian leadership that refused to hold negotiations.”