The United States allegedly wants to end the Ukraine war by making territorial concessions to Russia.
Denials are pouring down.
WASHINGTON, DC/Moscow - The White House and CIA have responded to a report that CIA Director William Burns offered Russian President Vladimir Putin a fifth of Ukraine's territory in order to end the Ukraine conflict.
This is reported by fr.de.
A CIA official told
Newsweek
that the allegations in the report by Switzerland's
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
were "completely false".
The paper wrote that Burns made a secret trip to Moscow in January and that there was a peace proposal that the director made on behalf of the White House.
The
NZZ
had reported this with reference to high-ranking German foreign politicians.
Peace offer to Moscow: Burns is said to have sought a diplomatic solution
In January, Burns traveled to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and hold informal talks.
According to the NZZ
, Burns is said to
have presented the plan in mid-January to end the Ukraine war, which began on February 24, 2022.
+
Vladimir Putin (l.), President of Russia, and Joe Biden (r.), President of the USA.
© Stock photos: SNA / Imago Images, Zuma Wire / Imago Images |
Collage: IPPEN.MEDIA
Accordingly, Burns is said to have tried both in Kyiv and in Moscow to find a diplomatic solution to the war.
Both sides, the reports went on to say, were not willing to do this: Ukraine because they did not want to give up part of their own territory, and Russia because it assumed it would win anyway.
Officially, there was no confirmation from the White House of such a diplomatic offensive by the intelligence chief.
Peace offer to Moscow: Kremlin disagrees
Russia has also denied the media reports.
"It's a duck," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday (February 3) in Moscow, according to the Interfax news agency.
+
CIA director William Burns is said to have made an offer to Moscow.
© BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/afp
Burns and Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, "want to end the war quickly so they can focus on China," writes
Newsweek
.
However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did not want "Russia to get away with destroying the rules-based peace order" and continue to call for "massive military support to Ukraine".
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Russia has repeatedly offered negotiations in the Ukraine conflict, which Ukraine has so far rejected.
According to experts, freezing the conflict under the current conditions would be beneficial for Moscow because it could secure its positions along new border lines and gather forces.
Russia currently occupies around 18 percent of Ukraine's territory, including the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014.
(skr)
Rubric list image: © Archive photos: SNA / Imago Images, Zuma Wire / Imago Images |
Collage: IPPEN.MEDIA
