US says Putin’s call to end war in Ukraine insincere

Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s name for an finish to the conflict in Ukraine has been met with a pointy rebuke from the US, which mentioned the Russian chief had proven “zero” curiosity in peace negotiations.

“Our aim is to not spin the flywheel of navy battle however, quite the opposite, to finish this conflict,” Putin mentioned on Thursday.

“We are going to try for an finish to this and the earlier the higher, in fact,” he mentioned.

“All armed conflicts finish a method or one other with some form of negotiations on the diplomatic monitor,” he added.

“Eventually, any events in a state of battle sit down and make an settlement. The earlier this realisation involves those that oppose us, the higher. We now have by no means given up on this.”

Putin’s feedback got here as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White Home and later made a stirring speech to the US Congress the place he mentioned help for Ukraine was an funding in safety and democracy for the complete world.

The US additionally introduced an extra $1.85bn in navy help for Kyiv to coincide with Zelensky’s first recognized journey exterior of Ukraine since Russia invaded in February.

Washington was swift in response to Putin’s peace feedback.

The White Home’s nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby mentioned Putin has “proven completely zero indication that he’s prepared to barter” to convey an finish to the 10-month-old battle.

“Fairly the opposite,” Kirby informed reporters throughout an internet briefing. “All the pieces he (Putin) is doing on the bottom and within the air bespeaks a person who needs to proceed to go to violence upon the Ukrainian individuals” and “escalate the conflict”.

Kirby mentioned US President Joe Biden was open to a dialogue with Putin however provided that he “confirmed a seriousness about negotiations”.

Kirby’s statements had been echoed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“Basically proper now, Russia has proven little interest in significant diplomacy, in meaningfully participating, to convey this conflict to an finish,” Blinken mentioned at a press convention on Thursday, the AFP reported.

The battle, Blinken reiterated, may very well be ended if Russia merely withdrew its troops.

“Within the absence of that, we’ve got to see some significant proof that Russia is ready to truly negotiate a simply and sturdy peace,” Blinken mentioned.

“By simply – one which doesn’t merely ratify one other nation seizing by drive the territory of one other,” he mentioned.

“Sturdy – within the sense that we wish to guarantee that it holds and that we’re not merely placing Ukraine able the place Russia goes to repeat what it did a month, six months, a yr later,” he added.

Ukraine and its allies have routinely blasted the Kremlin’s statements on peace as hole makes an attempt to stall after months of extended setbacks on the battlefield.

Putin on Thursday additionally minimised the Patriot air defence system Biden has pledged to provide to Kyiv.

He described the Patriots as “fairly previous”, in distinction with Russia’s S-300 system and mentioned the Kremlin would search a strategy to outmanoeuvre – and “crack” – the subtle surface-to-air missile defence system.

“An antidote will all the time be discovered,” Putin mentioned of the Patriot system.

“So those that do it are doing it in useless. It’s simply prolonging the battle, that’s all.”

Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians have perished and Ukraine’s inhabitants is enduring brutal winter circumstances – with many surviving with out water, energy or warmth amid the Kremlin’s relentless bombardment, which has been hitting “crucial infrastructure”, together with energy stations and power provide hubs in areas surrounding the capital and elsewhere within the nation.