Pentagon on Putin's peace proposal: "He could end this today, if he chose to do that, and we call upon him to do that, and to leave Ukrainian sovereign territory"

- Putin has occupied, illegally occupied, sovereign Ukrainian territory. He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about peace - said Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin. He commented on the "peace" proposal made by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Friday afternoon.

Putin stated on Friday at a meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow that the Russian army would cease fire if Ukrainian troops withdrew from Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia and Kyiv committed to not joining NATO.

Asked about this proposal, the U.S. Secretary of Defense emphasized that Putin is illegally occupying Ukraine's sovereign territory. - He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about peace - said Austin in Brussels, where he attended a meeting of defence ministers of NATO member countries.

- He could end this today, if he chose to do that, and we call upon him to do that, and to leave Ukrainian sovereign territory - he added.

When asked about the potential expansion of NATO, he said that he does not see any desire or signs among current allies that indicate, an expansion of NATO in the near future.

- There will always be countries that will want to join NATO. It's because of the values that NATO embraces, because of, you know, the kinds of things that we take on, the commitments that we make to each other in terms of, you know, our commitment to defend the territory of each country that's involved, that's a part of the Alliance - he said. But again, it is a defensive alliance, and again, I think at this point in time, you know, the members of the alliance would probably want to see things stabilize and settle out as we get the new members on board, and continue to refine our plans, as we were doing in this meeting - he noted.