On Thursday, President Biden told reporters that if Ukraine wishes to give up any territory in order to negotiate an end to its conflict with Russia, Washington will respect her decision.
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The U.S President was responding to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of the NATO submit going on in Brussels. The President was asked if President Volodymyr Zelensky needs to cede any land to secure a ceasefire, or if such a move is off the table, he responded by saying;
“That is a total judgement based on Ukraine, nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. I don’t believe that they are going to have to do that.
“But that’s their judgement, there is negotiations, there are discussions that are taking place that I have not been a part of, including Ukrainians.
“It’s their judgement to make.”
At the inception of the press briefing, President Biden announce that the United States have prepared to commit more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to help get relief to millions of Ukrainians affected by the war in Ukraine.
President Biden: "Today, I'm announcing the United States have prepared to commit more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to help get relief to millions of Ukrainians affected by the war in Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/8jv1tbP6yN
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 24, 2022
Biden conceded that the US-led sanctions against Russia – joined by NATO, Japan, Australia, and South Korea so far – will result in global food shortages, but pointed out that the US and Canada are major sources of wheat and are exploring ways to ramp up production and exports.
When posed with a question on what next he thinks Vladimir Putin will do based on the actions taken today since deterrence didn’t work.
He responded by saying that sanctions were never meant as a deterrent, but to maintain NATO unity, which he called the most important thing at this moment.
“I never said from the beginning that sanctions will deter him, sanctions never deter. The main reasons for sanctions, increasing the pain and the demonstration why I asked for this meeting today is to be sure that after a month, we will sustain what we are doing.
“Not just next month, the following month, for the reminder of this entire year, that’s what will stop him.”
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, and is demanding that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc.
Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two Donbass republics by force.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
