Left-wing US lawmakers on Monday called on President Joe Biden to seek a negotiated solution with Russia to end the Ukraine war, including by examining mutually acceptable security arrangements.
In a letter, 30 members of the House of Representatives from Biden’s Democratic Party made it clear that they opposed Russia’s “egregious and illegal invasion of Ukraine” and agreed with the White House that an agreement could be reached by Kyiv.
“But as lawmakers responsible for spending tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on military aid in the conflict, we believe that such involvement in this war also creates a responsibility for the United States to seriously explore all possible avenues,” said the lawmakers of MP Pramila Jayapal, Chair of the House Progressive Caucus.
They called for direct cooperation with Russia to find a solution “acceptable to the people of Ukraine.”
“Such a framework would likely include inducements to end hostilities, including some forms of sanctions relaxation, and would bring the international community together to provide security guarantees for a free and independent Ukraine acceptable to all parties, particularly Ukrainians,” they wrote you.
“The alternative to diplomacy is a protracted war, with the associated certainties and catastrophic and incalculable risks.”
Before the invasion began on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin had demanded guarantees that the former Soviet republic would never join NATO, the Western military alliance.
US officials were skeptical that NATO was its real concern, noting that Ukraine had little prospect of joining the alliance but had held high-level talks with Russia leading up to the invasion.
When asked about the letter, State Department spokesman Ned Price said: “No one wants this war to end more than our Ukrainian colleagues.”
“We don’t know when it’s going to happen, mainly and solely because we haven’t seen any signs from the Russians that they are willing to engage in this diplomacy and dialogue,” he told reporters.
“We have provided our Ukrainian partners with what they need on the battlefield so that when a negotiating table forms, they will be in the best possible position,” Price said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said separately, “We said very clearly: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
The United States approved $40 billion in aid to Ukraine in May, leading Western efforts to both provide arms and prop up an economy devastated by Russian attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – who reluctantly raised the possibility of dropping the NATO bid to avert war – has vowed to defeat the Russian invaders and retake the lands they occupied.
