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The U.S. Government considered Friday that China’s peace proposal to find a negotiated way out of the war in Ukraine should have stayed in the first two lines, which call for respecting the sovereignty of countries.
White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a call with reporters on the Chinese 12-point initiative that “of course” the US wants to see the conflict end and see peace in Ukraine.
“But for a peace to be sustained, beyond the best and unlikely outcome, which would be for Putin to pull his troops out (of Ukraine), it has to be pursued from the beginning with the inclusion of the Ukrainian perspective, it has to include the fundamental recognition of who the aggressor is, which is Russia.”
China presented this Friday a document in which it explains in twelve points its “position for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine” and which emphasizes the need for “dialogue and negotiations” and “respect for the sovereignty of countries.”
Kirby felt that the proposal should have been left in the first line or two, in which China advocates respect for “the sovereignty of all countries” and “their territorial integrity.”
The initiative also envisages a cessation of hostilities, the opening of negotiations, an exchange of prisoners, the protection of nuclear power plants and the lifting of “unilateral” sanctions.
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Kirby remarked that the United States is focused on “supporting” Ukraine in defending its sovereignty because Russian President Vladimir Putin “has not abandoned his ambitions to eliminate Ukraine as a free and independent nation.”
Therefore, the American spokesman expressed his agreement with the first two lines of the Chinese proposal, which “is exactly what all nations should do.”
However, he remarked that the USA will not dictate to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky when to negotiate or under what terms or circumstances.
“He has to make that decision, our job is to make sure he can succeed on the battlefield so that when he is ready to sit down at the (negotiating) table, he can do it with the wind at his back,” he said.
