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Ukraine peace deal should rule out US military presence near Russian borders — Wagenknecht

Wagenknecht said an agreement on Ukraine should not be to Germany's detriment

BERLIN, February 10. /TASS/. German politician Sahra Wagenknecht said any Ukraine peace deal should make sure the US military stays far from the Russian border.

"It is necessary to reach a peace agreement as soon as possible, one that is truly stable, that won’t allow the conflict to flare up again in three or five years," the leader of a political party called the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance said at a news conference. "We should avoid what caused the war, namely the presence of the US military in Ukraine, the US military near the Russian border."

She said the US helped escalate the conflict by its actions, but now Russia and the US are in talks about a potential settlement.

"If we are very lucky, the war in Ukraine will end in a ceasefire before a new government is formed in Germany," she said.

Germany holds a parliamentary election on February 23.

Wagenknecht said an agreement on Ukraine should not be to Germany's detriment.

"My assumption is that [US President] Donald Trump will negotiate in such a way that in the end the Europeans will bear the costs," she said.

The politician alleged that Trump wants to end the conflict just because it has become "too expensive" for him.

Trump earlier expressed hope that a deal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine will be reached shortly.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in June 2024 named the conditions for talks with Ukraine, which included withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass and Novorossiya, an end to Kiev's aspirations to join NATO, lifting all Western sanctions against Moscow, and Ukraine’s commitment to uphold a non-aligned and nuclear-free status and fully respect the rights, freedoms and interests of its Russian-speaking citizens.

Western news media are suggesting ever more often that a settlement in Ukraine will be discussed between the leaders of Russia and the US, with Europe moved to the sidelines and Kiev’s involvement just a formality.