US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “needs to make a decision to end this conflict” so that the war can come to an end. His comments came as he denied the Ukraine war was becoming a proxy war between the United States and Russia.

Austin said it is “clearly Ukraine’s fight,” and that “Ukraine’s neighbors and allies and partners are stepping up to make sure they have what they need in order to be successful.”

“Ukrainians are there fighting to protect their sovereignty,” he said in a network pool interview.

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Previously, there were remarks that one of the goals of the US was to “weaken” Russia to the point that they would not be able to threaten their allies as they did to Ukraine.

Austin called Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine “unjustified,” adding that it will be Putin’s decision “to de-escalate and then go back to the negotiating table.” 

“And we really all would like to see that happen,” Austin said. 

Meanwhile, Putin said Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine had managed to achieve a “serious breakthrough” during talks in Istanbul, Turkey. However, the situation changed “dramatically” following the allegations against Russia for crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where bodies of hundreds of civilians were found with gunshot wounds and some with their hands tied up.

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“In Istanbul, we managed to achieve a serious breakthrough, because our Ukrainian colleagues did not associate the requirements of security, international security of Ukraine, with such a concept as internationally accepted borders of Ukraine … But, unfortunately, after reaching agreements and after our clearly demonstrated intentions to create conditions for favorable conditions for the continuation of negotiations, we encountered a provocation in the village of Bucha, to which the Russian army has nothing to do,” Putin said, speaking alongside United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. 

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that possible future talks in Turkey depends on Putin. Zelensky also said that he was open to renewed talks with Russia. 

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Thousands of lives have been lost since the war began on Feb. 24. A Ukrainian presidential advisor said Tuesday that Russia remains focused on attempts to surround Ukrainian forces in the east of the country.

“Although the enemy resorted to powerful artillery and airstrikes, our troops successfully maneuver and repel attacks,” Oleksiy Arestovych said.