STORY: :: The U.S.' defense secretary dismisses Putin's ceasefire demands for Ukraine
:: The Russian leader's conditions for Kyiv include handing over four provinces claimed by Moscow
:: June 14, 2024
:: Brussels, Belgium
:: Lloyd Austin, U.S. Defense Secretary
:: "Putin has occupied, illegally occupied, sovereign Ukrainian territory. He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about a peace. I think, you know, that's exactly the kind of behavior that we don't want to see. We don't want to see a leader of one country wake up one day and decide that he wants to erase borders and annex the territory of his neighbor. That's not the world that any of us want to live in, and so I think, you know, he is not, in my view, not in a position to dictate to Ukraine what it must do to pursue peace."
:: "Putin can end this war today. He started this war with no provocation. He's had some hundreds of thousands of troops wounded and killed in this unjust and unprovoked invasion. He could end this today if he chose to do that. And we call upon him to do that, and to leave Ukrainian sovereign territory."
Putin said earlier on Friday that Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its ambitions for NATO membership, hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, and carry out a demilitarization.
Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory in the third year of the war.
Ukraine says peace can only be based on the full withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of its territorial integrity.
