'Not Our Policy': U.S. Denies Reports It’s Pressuring Ukraine To Negotiate With Russia

The United States on Monday denied reports that allege a nefarious U.S.-German plot to force Ukraine into talks with Russia, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"... No, there’s no U.S. policy. We’ve always said that this is a matter for Ukraine to decide. We decide nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," James O’Brien, assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian affairs, said in response to a report from the German tabloid Bild claiming that Washington and Berlin were trying to nudge Kyiv toward the negotiating table.

O’Brien went on to add: "...I think the other reality here is we see no indication that Russia is willing to entertain substantive, real peace negotiations.  It seems to us President Putin is talking about waiting for at least another year or more before he will contemplate an end to this war, and it would be pointless to have a discussion on Ukraine’s side – it’s not a dialogue; it’s a monologue of surrender. So it’s nothing that is part of our policy."

O’Brien's comments came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday arrived in Brussels to affrend the first NATO-Ukraine Council foreign ministerial as well as the NATO ministers' next meeting. After weeks of diplomatic talks in the Middle East, Blinken will turn his attention today and tomorrow to Ukraine and will highlight the Alliance's steadfast commitment to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s aggression, emphasize support for democracy and regional stability in the Western Balkans, and discuss priorities for the Washington Summit next July.

"The NATO-Ukraine Council is the forum for consultation between NATO Allies and Ukraine going forward. We think it’s a very significant step that it is meeting at the foreign ministers level for the first time, because it shows the political support for the relationship that Ukraine is building with NATO," O’Brien told TURAN's Washington correspondent.

"This is part of the process of finding its place in the Alliance, which we’ve always said is Ukraine’s future.  And so the NUC is the place that they will be able to consult and discuss political issues as they arise," he added.

Wasbington also believes that Ukraine’s place is in NATO, and "we’re very happy that this first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council will put Ukraine at the table in its proper alphabetical order as a full participant in that forum,"  O’Brien said, adding  "... We look forward to the day that it’s a full member."