WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2023) No peace initiatives on Ukraine will work until the United States and the United Kingdom abandon their goal to "destroy Russia," independent candidate for the US Senate from New York Diane Sare told Sputnik.
Several countries, including China and a group of African nations, have set out their road maps toward peace in Ukraine, but none has been approved by Kiev.
When asked whether she sees any of the proposed initiatives as a possible way forward, Sare stated, "I think so, with a giant caveat."
"Which is that the United States and Britain have to change their desire, the goal of the destruction of Russia," Sare said. "The United States and Britain, unfortunately, are capable of sabotaging anything. Somehow, we must shift the United States and so far the Congress hasn't gotten the message, but I think that is actually critical to getting this conflict to end."
Commenting on what a possible negotiated solution to the Ukraine conflict may be, Sare noted, "That is really not for me to say."
"I think that Putin has expressed very legitimate security concerns which were ignored at the beginning of the process," she said. "I think there was an agreement that they had nearly reached with the help of Turkey mediating in March - April of 2022. It might be wise to start from that position."
Sare believes certain outcomes would be inevitable, including that Ukraine would have to be neutral and not acquire nuclear weapons.
"I think Crimea has to be recognized as part of Russia," she said. "I'm not sure that the people of Donetsk and Lugansk want to return to anything like the Minsk accords, but that all has to be hammered out. That's not for me to say, you have to have Western leaders acting in good faith, not in the treasonous way that they did around the Minsk accords."
Saudi Arabia hosted Ukraine peace talks in Jeddah over the weekend, having invited representatives from some 30 countries, but not Russia. The Jeddah meeting is a follow-up to a similar conference held in Denmark in June. The Copenhagen meeting failed to produce any joint statements.
Moscow has said it is open to peace negotiations if Kiev recognizes the territorial gains Russia has made since the launch of its military operation in February 2022. Ukraine has banned its officials from engaging the Russian government in talks as long as President Vladimir Putin is in power.
