BackDid US offer 20% of Ukrainian territory to Putin to end war? White House responds
White House has responded to reports that the US offered 20 per cent of the Ukrainian territory to Vladimir Putin
PremiumAn American media has reported that CIA director William Burns took a secret trip to Moscow in January and offered 20 per cent of the Ukrainian territory to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as part of a peace plan drawn by the Joe Biden administration.
While speaking to the news magazine Newsweek, a CIA official rejected the report and called it "completely false." The White House also responded to the report, and Sean Davett, deputy spokesperson at the White House's National Security Council said the report is “not accurate."
The report by Washington Post claimed that the CIA director traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine last month and met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He tried to offer a peace proposal between Russia and Ukraine, the NZZ reported later.
The peace proposal allegedly offered "around 20 per cent of Ukraine's territory" to Russia. Ukraine denied it "because they are not willing to have their territory divided" while Russia believes that they "will win the war in the long run anyway," the NZZ reported.
Meanwhile, Russia has rejected the reports that the US has offered any secret deal to end its war with Ukraine.
The report also talked about the division in the US administration over the Russia-Ukraine war with William Burns and Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, "wanted to end the war quickly so they could focus on China," while Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “didn't want to let Russia get away with destroying the rule-based peace order and called for massive military support for Ukraine."
The report came days after the US announced a fresh $2 billion package of military assistance for Ukraine which will include longer-range artillery weapons. The package was announced as Ukraine is planning a fresh offensive against Russian forces to recapture its lost territory.
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