- The US defense secretary says NATO expansion is unlikely in the short term.
- Putin is not in a position to demand peace from Ukraine: Austin.
- Russia says Ukraine's future depends on adopting neutral status.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no authority to “demand” Ukraine end the war.
According ReutersAustin made these remarks while highlighting Ukraine's successes in defending against Russia's invasion.
Previously, Putin had stated that Russia would only consider ending the war “if Ukraine renounces its aspirations in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), surrenders all four provinces claimed by Moscow and demilitarizes.”
“He is not in a position to dictate to Ukraine what it must do to achieve peace,” Austin told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
As the conflict enters its third year, Russia controls almost 20% of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine insists on a complete withdrawal from Russia and the restoration of its territorial integrity as a basis for peace.
“You have had hundreds of thousands of soldiers injured and killed in this unjust and unprovoked invasion. You could end this today if you choose. And we ask that you do so and leave the sovereign territory of Ukraine,” Austin said.
In his speech, Putin stated that Ukraine's future depended on it adopting a neutral status, withdrawing its forces and entering into talks with Russia.
The timing of his speech appeared to come ahead of Ukraine's “peace conference” in Switzerland and the NATO summit in Washington, where discussions about Ukraine's future membership in the alliance are ongoing.
This comes as President Zelensky seeks international support for kyiv's conditions to end the war.
NATO's official line is that Ukraine will join the alliance one day, but not while the country is at war.
Austin also said that NATO expansion was not likely in the short term.
“In terms of NATO expansion, I think it is a decision that the 32 members of (the) NATO alliance will make at some point, I don't see any desire or indication that we will pursue expansion at some point in the future nearby,” Austin said.
Austin said he suspected there would always be countries that would want to join NATO, but at this point the alliance wants to focus on adding its newest members, Sweden and Finland.
