The secretary of state denied lawmakers\u2019 assertions that he called the leaked document a Russian \u201cwish list\u201d in private. <\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the leaked Ukraine peace proposal was written by the United States.<\/p>\n
His comment followed claims from several lawmakers that Rubio had privately referred to the document as a Russian \u201cwish list.\u201d, News.Az<\/a> reports citing the Anadolu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Senators at the Halifax International Security Forum said Rubio phoned them while en route to Geneva for meetings with Ukrainian officials.<\/p>\n \u201cHe made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,\u201d Sen. Mike Rounds said during a news conference. \u201cIt is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan. It is a proposal that was received, and as an intermediary, we have made arrangements to share it — and we did not release it. It was leaked.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after, Rubio took to US social media company X to reject their account.<\/p>\n \u201cThe peace proposal was authored by the U.S. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine,\u201d Rubio wrote.<\/p>\n State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott called the account by US lawmakers \u201cblatantly false,\u201d noting that the Trump administration has \u201cconsistently maintained, this plan was authored by the United States, with input from both the Russians and Ukrainians.\u201d<\/p>\n The leaked 28-point draft proposal, first reported by US-based news site Axios, appears to require Ukraine to surrender additional territory to Russia, limit the size of its military and abandon its bid to join NATO.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump has given his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to respond.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy said he faces a tough choice, namely the “loss of our dignity or the risk of losing a key partner.”<\/p>\n Earlier Saturday, the leaders of nine European countries plus Japan, Canada and top EU officials, expressed concern about the plan’s proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, warning that they “would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.”<\/p>\n Russia started its “special military operation” in February 2022 for the “denazification” and demilitarization of Ukraine. Besides limits on the Ukrainian military and barring NATO membership, Moscow wants the Russian language to enjoy official status in Ukraine.<\/p>\n