Defense Secretary Austin dismisses Putin’s offer of Ukraine cease-fire

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Friday dismissed comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was prepared to order an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine if Kyiv withdraws its troops from regions claimed by Moscow and renounces its bid to join NATO.

Speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels following the latest meeting of defense chiefs from dozens of nations supporting Kyiv in the fight, Mr. Austin said Russia is illegally occupying sovereign Ukrainian territory.

Mr. Putin “is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about a peace. That’s exactly the kind of behavior we don’t want to see,” Mr. Austin told reporters at a press conference. “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.”

Mr. Putin offered his proposal during an address on Friday at the Russian Foreign Ministry. He insisted he has always been open to a negotiated settlement to the crisis from the beginning but claimed Washington prevented Ukraine from engaging in a dialogue with Russia.

“It just looks idiotic. On the one hand, they are forbidden to negotiate with us but they call on us to negotiate and even hint that we refuse,” Mr. Putin said, according to the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.

Mr. Putin called for the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic — two breakaway regions of Ukraine that Moscow annexed in 2022 — along with Kherson and Zaporozhzhia in southern Ukraine. Kyiv also must recognize Crimea as part of Russia and permanently renounce any desire for nuclear weapons, Mr. Putin said.

The Kremlin also wants NATO and its allies to end economic sanctions against Russia since the invasion in late February 2022.

“After this, Moscow will immediately cease fire and begin negotiations,” Mr. Putin said, according to RIA Novosti. “The Kremlin expects that Kyiv will come to this decision on its own, based on national interests, and not at the ’order of the West.’”

Senior Ukrainian officials joined Mr. Austin in rejecting Moscow’s claim that it was looking for a path to peace. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, called the Russian leader’s proposal “highly offensive to international law” and a sign that Kremlin leaders aren’t serious about ending hostilities.

“There is no novelty in this, no real peace proposals, and no desire to end the war. But there is a desire not to pay for this war and to continue it in new formats,” Mr. Podolyak said Friday on social media. “It’s all a complete sham. Therefore, once again, get rid of illusions and stop taking seriously the ’proposals of Russia’ that are offensive to common sense.”

Mr. Austin said the Kremlin launched its invasion of neighboring Ukraine without any provocation. Russia has lost hundreds of thousands of troops that were killed or wounded in the fighting.

The Russian president “could end this war today if he chose. We call on him to do that and leave Ukrainian sovereign territory,” the defense secretary said.

Mr. Putin in his Friday remarks argued that it was Ukraine who was the aggressor in provoking Russia’s invasion more than two years ago, and suggested the ball is in Mr. Zelenskyy’s court on the next diplomatic steps.

“If Kiev and Western capitals refuse it, as before, then, after all, this is their business, their political and moral responsibility to continue the bloodshed,” he said.