Austin Rebukes Putin's Demands on Ukraine

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin is in no position to impose conditions on Ukraine to end the ongoing war. The statement comes as a response to Putin's demand that Ukraine abandon its NATO aspirations and cede four provinces to Russia for peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in "no position" to make demands on Ukraine to end the war, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday, as he touted Kyiv's military successes confronting Moscow's full-scale invasion.

Putin said earlier on Friday that Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions, hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, and carry out a demilitarization.

"He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about peace," Austin told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.