US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States did not call the withdrawal of the Armed Forces from the entire Donbass a condition of security guarantees and that President Vladimir Zelensky said a lie about this.
Source: Rubio’s statement to journalists before his departure from France, writes “European Truth”
Details: The Secretary of State was asked about the Ukrainian president’s statement that the United States is offering Kyiv its security guarantees in exchange for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the unoccupied part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Advertising:
Rubio said Zelensky’s words were untrue and that he was “disappointed” to hear the statements.
“This is not true, I saw him say it, and it’s a shame that he spoke like that, because he knows that it is not true and that he was told something completely different,” the head of the State Department responded.
He said the US told Zelensky the “obvious” – that security guarantees could not take effect until the fighting ended.
“What are security guarantees? These are troops ready to intervene and provide security. If you introduce this now, it will mean that you are interfering in the war. He was very clearly told, and he should have understood it, that security guarantees are provided only after the end of the war. But this was not due to the fact that he had to give up territory,” Rubio argued.
According to the Secretary of State, the United States allegedly simply conveyed Russian demands to the Ukrainians, but did not advocate territorial concessions from Kyiv.
“We told the Ukrainian side what the Russians insist on. We do not advocate for this… The choice is theirs. It is not for us to decide for them. We never told them that they should agree or refuse,” he said.
Rubio added that the final decision rests with Ukraine, but if Kyiv does not make any decisions and makes concessions, the war will continue.
“Our role was to find out what both sides wanted and try to find a compromise. The final decision rests with Ukraine. If they are not willing to make certain decisions and make certain concessions, the war will continue,” the official added.
As European Pravda reported, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that the U.S. offer Kyiv their security guarantees only in exchange for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the unoccupied part of Donbass.
Let us note that in January, the Financial Times already reported that security guarantees from the United States for Ukraine would depend on Kyiv’s prior consent to withdrawal of its troops from the unoccupied part of Donbass.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently said that when discussing future security guarantees for Ukraine, any decisions regarding territory Ukraine itself should accept.
