US Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin on Friday rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands that Ukraine should withdraw from territory claimed by Moscow to end the Kremlin’s invasion.
“Putin has occupied, illegally occupied, sovereign Ukrainian territory. He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about peace,” Austin said at the end of a NATO meeting in Brussels.
The US Secretary of Defense reminded Putin that he could stop the war at any time by withdrawing his troops from Ukrainian territory.
“He’s had some hundreds of thousands of troops wounded and killed in this unjust and unprovoked invasion. He could end this today if he chose to do that. And we call upon him to do that and to leave Ukrainian sovereign territory,” Austin said.
