BRUSSELS. June 14 (Interfax) - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has made critical comments on Russian President Vladimir Putin's new proposals on settling the Ukraine crisis.
"This is not a proposal made in good faith. This is a proposal that means that Russia should achieve its aims [in the conflict]," Stoltenberg said at a press conference following a meeting between NATO defense chiefs on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, Putin said Russia's new proposal on settling the Ukraine crisis was aimed at completely putting an end to the conflict rather than freezing it.
"Today we make another specific, genuine peace proposal. If Kiev and Western capitals reject it, as they have done before, and after all that's their business, they will bear political and moral responsibility for the continuation of the bloodshed," Putin said at a meeting with the Russian Foreign Ministry's leadership.
"The essence of our proposal is not some temporary truce or ceasefire, which is what the West wants in order to compensate for the losses, rearm the Kiev regime and prepare it for a new offensive," Putin said.
"As soon as Kiev agrees to the course of action proposed today, agrees to fully withdraw troops from the DPR, the LPR, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and actually starts the process, we will be ready to begin negotiations without delay," he said.