US Secretary of State raises surprising conditions to end Ukraine conflict
US Secretary of State Blinken said that Ukraine's desire to end the war is a condition for reaching an agreement with Russia.
According to RIA Novosti on January 18, outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Ukraine's desire to end the conflict with Russia a condition for reaching a good agreement.
“I think the next administration can help Ukraine negotiate a good deal if it wants to and if it makes the choice to end the conflict,” the US secretary of state said at a briefing at the State Department. According to Mr. Blinken, Russia is believed to be able to “take a break and come back to attack again.” Therefore, the US secretary of state said, the main condition of the agreement is to ensure that this will not happen.
Mr. Blinken will be replaced as Secretary of State by Marco Rubio, who has said that ending the conflict in Ukraine must be a priority for U.S. policy. Mr. Rubio stressed that achieving peace will be a complex process, requiring “bold diplomacy” and a true balance of interests on both sides.
Meanwhile, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will negotiate with Russia immediately after US President-elect Donald Trump stops financial support for Kiev.
“Trump would be able to end the war very quickly if he just cut off US funding to Ukraine. When that happens, and Ukraine begins to collapse from within, Zelensky will be ready to talk to Russia,” said expert Larry Johnson.
According to this expert, Mr. Trump's team will have to accept reality and over time realize that Russia has the ability not to rush into negotiations and in any case will end the conflict on its own.
