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Military operation in Ukraine

US opposes ceasefire in Ukraine, rejects China’s peace plan — White House

US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that he has long been urging Chinese President Xi Jinping to hold talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky

WASHINGTON, March 17. /TASS/. The United States opposes a ceasefire in Ukraine and rejects settlement proposals earlier put forward by China, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby has told reporters.

"We would certainly be concerned by any proposals coming out of the PRC that would be one sided and reflect only the Russian perspective," the White House official said. "For instance, you guys saw the 12-point plan that was much ballyhooed. It calls for a ceasefire. And while that sounds pretty reasonable, and it sounds like a good thing: ceasefire right now, it basically ratify Russia’s conquest, it would in effect recognize Russia's gains."

"So ceasefire right now would constitute another continued violation of the UN Charter," Kirby continued. In his opinion, Russia would "basically be free to use that ceasefire to further entrench its positions in Ukraine," to restore its forces and retrain its troops "so that they can then restart attacks."

"Frankly, it's just not a step that we believe towards a just and durable peace. If a peace is going to be enduring, if it's going to be a just peace, if it's going to be sustainable, it can't be one sided and it has to absolutely include <…> Ukrainian perspectives and Ukrainian decision making," he added.

Kirby added that he has long been urging Chinese President Xi Jinping to hold talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

"We think it's really important for the Chinese to get the Ukrainian perspective here and not just Mr. Putin’s," he said. "We've been encouraging that for quite some time."

In February, he Chinese Foreign Ministry published a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, among other things calling for a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Kiev, and steps to stop unilateral sanctions. Beijing stressed that dialogue and negotiations were "the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis" and called on all sides to support Moscow and Kiev in "working in the same direction" and in resuming direct dialogue as soon as possible.

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Ukraine United States Xi Jinping Vladimir Zelensky Military operation in Ukraine

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