US says Ukraine has right to defend its territory, decide its future

WASHINGTON

The US State Department stressed Monday that Ukraine has a right to defend its territory and decide its future.

Asked about comments by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recommending a cease-fire line between Ukraine and Russia based on the borders before Feb. 24, spokesman Ned Price said “Mr. Kissinger was speaking as a private citizen.”

"We firmly believe that Ukraine, and only Ukraine, has the right to decide its future,” he told reporters.

“We believe as does (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, that this war will have to end eventually through dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.

“We believe in the need for a peace that is both just and durable. Unfortunately, we haven't seen any meaningful reciprocation from Moscow.”

In a weekend article in British weekly The Spectator, Kissinger argued that the time is approaching for a negotiated peace in Ukraine.

He also recommended the establishment of a cease-fire line between Ukraine and Russia along the borders where the conflict began on Feb. 24, after which Moscow would withdraw from territories it controls, excluding those it controlled prior to the war, including Crimea – which Moscow illegally seized in 2014 – which Kissinger said “could be the subject of a negotiation after a cease-fire.”

Kissinger also recommended adopting a principle of self-determination and internationally supervised referendums in “particularly divisive territories” if the cease-fire line cannot be established.

Kissinger, 99, one of the most famous and controversial diplomats in US history, in the 1970s served under two presidents -- Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He is perhaps best known for his advocacy of the realpolitik doctrine of foreign relations.

Asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks in Belarus on Monday that Russia is not seeking to absorb other countries, Price said the statement “has to be treated as the height of irony, coming from a leader who is seeking at the present moment to violently absorb his other peaceful next-door neighbor.”