US State Dept announces change in approach to negotiations with Russia and Ukraine
The United States will no longer act as a mediator in negotiations with Russia and Ukraine. Both sides must reach an agreement on their own, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
“The nature of how this would change is (…) we are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings, that it is now between the two parties, and now – now is the time that they need to present and develop concrete ideas about how this conflict is going to end. It’s going to be up to them,” she said a briefing.
According to her, there are other regions in the world that require attention.
“The Secretary’s (Marco Rubio) also made it very clear that while our style will change, the methodology of how we contribute to this will change in that we will not be the mediators,” she added.
Asked whether the USA is ready to impose secondary sanctions against buyers of Russian oil, similar to the measures taken against Iran, the State Department spokeswoman said US President Donald Trump has again expressed willingness to act in this direction.
“Clearly we’re not removing any sanctions that currently exist. The President wants in every action that we’ve taken as a nation to do it diplomatically; that he – clearly, because of the commitment to it,” she stated.