NYT: Blinken disagreed with top US general on Ukraine peace talks
According to the NYT, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Ukraine to continue its military efforts rather than seeking peace negotiations in 2022. Read Full Article at RT.com
TroibNews 
General Mark Milley reportedly advised Kiev to leverage its 2022 battlefield gains in negotiations with Moscow.
Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken contradicted senior US military officials by advocating for Ukraine to persist in its fight against Russia rather than to seek peace negotiations in 2022, as reported by the New York Times on Saturday.
Despite the advice from the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, suggesting that Ukraine should take advantage of its battlefield successes to pursue peace talks with Moscow, Blinken insisted that Ukraine continue its military efforts in late 2022.
The NYT noted that Blinken was seen as “less a peacemaker than a war strategist,” frequently opposing the more “risk-averse Pentagon officials” while pushing for advanced American weaponry to be sent to Ukraine.
According to Blinken, Washington has allocated “approximately $100 billion” to Ukraine since the conflict escalated in February 2022, with allies and partners contributing an additional $150 billion, as stated during a January appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Biden administration has accelerated arms deliveries to Kiev in anticipation of the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has suggested he might reduce military aid to Ukraine in order to focus on domestic priorities.
Blinken acknowledged in a January interview with the NYT that the Biden administration had been covertly sending arms to Ukraine before the conflict escalated. “Starting in September and then again in December, we quietly got a lot of weapons to Ukraine to make sure that they had in hand what they needed to defend themselves – things like Stingers, Javelins that they could use,” he remarked.
Russia and Ukraine initially engaged in peace negotiations in early 2022 in Istanbul, where both sides tentatively agreed to a truce. Under this agreement, Kiev would forgo its aspirations for NATO membership, adopt a neutral stance, and limit its military size in exchange for international security guarantees. However, Ukraine later withdrew from these talks at the encouragement of then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as noted by David Arakhamia, a Ukrainian MP allied with Vladimir Zelensky and the chief negotiator for Kiev during the discussions.
Recently, Swiss diplomat Jean-Daniel Ruch similarly accused the US and UK of hindering peace talks between Kiev and Moscow. Speaking to the French-language media outlet Anti-These, Ruch asserted that Johnson acted “on duty for the Americans.”
Moscow has expressed its readiness to resume peace negotiations, contingent upon them being based on the Istanbul draft agreements and accounting for the “new territorial realities,” including the incorporation of four former Ukrainian regions into Russia and the recent developments on the battlefield.
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken contradicted senior US military officials by advocating for Ukraine to persist in its fight against Russia rather than to seek peace negotiations in 2022, as reported by the New York Times on Saturday.
Despite the advice from the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, suggesting that Ukraine should take advantage of its battlefield successes to pursue peace talks with Moscow, Blinken insisted that Ukraine continue its military efforts in late 2022.
The NYT noted that Blinken was seen as “less a peacemaker than a war strategist,” frequently opposing the more “risk-averse Pentagon officials” while pushing for advanced American weaponry to be sent to Ukraine.
According to Blinken, Washington has allocated “approximately $100 billion” to Ukraine since the conflict escalated in February 2022, with allies and partners contributing an additional $150 billion, as stated during a January appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Biden administration has accelerated arms deliveries to Kiev in anticipation of the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has suggested he might reduce military aid to Ukraine in order to focus on domestic priorities.
Blinken acknowledged in a January interview with the NYT that the Biden administration had been covertly sending arms to Ukraine before the conflict escalated. “Starting in September and then again in December, we quietly got a lot of weapons to Ukraine to make sure that they had in hand what they needed to defend themselves – things like Stingers, Javelins that they could use,” he remarked.
Russia and Ukraine initially engaged in peace negotiations in early 2022 in Istanbul, where both sides tentatively agreed to a truce. Under this agreement, Kiev would forgo its aspirations for NATO membership, adopt a neutral stance, and limit its military size in exchange for international security guarantees. However, Ukraine later withdrew from these talks at the encouragement of then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as noted by David Arakhamia, a Ukrainian MP allied with Vladimir Zelensky and the chief negotiator for Kiev during the discussions.
Recently, Swiss diplomat Jean-Daniel Ruch similarly accused the US and UK of hindering peace talks between Kiev and Moscow. Speaking to the French-language media outlet Anti-These, Ruch asserted that Johnson acted “on duty for the Americans.”
Moscow has expressed its readiness to resume peace negotiations, contingent upon them being based on the Istanbul draft agreements and accounting for the “new territorial realities,” including the incorporation of four former Ukrainian regions into Russia and the recent developments on the battlefield.
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
