US says it will not impose on Ukraine an agreement to end the conflict with Russia

Relationship between the USA and Brazil is on a positive trajectory, says Marco Rubio The head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, stated this Friday (19) that he will not impose any agreement on Ukraine, at a time when talks are taking place in Miami in the presence of European countries to try to end the war with Russia. The dialogues, which will last throughout the weekend, take place after Russian President Vladimir Putin promised, hours before, to continue the military offensive, stating that the end of the conflict depends on Kiev and its Western partners. President Donald Trump’s envoys have promoted a plan under which the United States would offer security guarantees to Ukraine but which would require Kiev to cede part of its territory, an option rejected by many Ukrainians. Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction Rubio stressed, however, that the United States will not force the Ukrainians to accept a peace agreement. “This whole narrative that we are trying to impose something is ridiculous,” he declared. “We can’t force Ukraine to come to an agreement. We can’t force Russia to come to an agreement. They have to want to come to an agreement.” The secretary said he could participate in the dialogues in Miami tomorrow. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are leading the talks, which include Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and senior officials from the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Russian and American officials are expected to meet separately in Florida over the weekend. Umerov posted on social media that he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky after the negotiations in Miami. “We agree with our American partners on the next steps and the continuation of joint work in the near future. We are clearly acting in line with the priorities set by the president: Ukraine’s security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term.” Despite intense diplomatic activity, Russian attacks against Ukraine have not ceased. Seven people died and 15 were injured in a ballistic missile attack in the Black Sea region of Odessa, the local governor said today, adding that the target was port infrastructure. ‘New successes’ Witkoff and Kushner had already met with Umerov at the beginning of the month, in Miami, without European participation. Afterwards, they traveled to Moscow to talk to Putin. Last month, the United States surprised Europe by presenting a 28-point plan to resolve the war, which sidelined the continent’s key countries and was widely seen as favorable to Russia. The proposal was amended by Ukraine and Europe, but Russia had not yet reacted. However, Putin declared today that “the ball is now completely” in the court of Kiev and its allies. “Our troops are advancing along the entire line of contact. I am sure that, by the end of the year, we will have new successes,” Putin said in a press conference broadcast on TV. Russian forces accelerated their conquests in Ukraine this year, and control around 19% of the territory, including the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014. “We do not consider ourselves responsible for the deaths of people, because we were not the ones who started this war,” said Putin. He also said that if Ukraine holds presidential elections, as Moscow and Washington want, it could order a halt to long-range missile launches and drone bombings during voting day. The official also cited the decision of the European Union (EU) in its summit concluded in the early hours of today in Brussels, not to use Russian assets frozen in the bloc to finance a loan of 90 billion euros (582 billion reais) to Ukraine. More than 200 billion euros (1.3 trillion reais) from the Russian Central Bank are in the hands of the Brussels-based company Euroclear. Putin said using these frozen funds would be “a robbery.”

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