By KYIV. Nov 30 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The United States supports the need for a just and lasting peace, but Russia’s brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians demonstrate that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in meaningful diplomacy at the moment, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
“The united response of our allies and partners to Russia’s aggression has given Ukraine momentum in the fight. We agree with President Zelenskyy: diplomacy is ultimately the only way to definitively end Russia’s war of aggression. We support the need for a just and durable peace. Russia’s savage attacks on Ukrainian civilians are the latest demonstration that President Putin currently has no interest in meaningful diplomacy,” Blinken said at a press conference in Bucharest on Wednesday.
The Secretary of State is confident that Putin will try to freeze the conflict in Ukraine, strengthen his achievements, rest his army, rearm it, and then at some point attack again.
“That tactic cannot possibly lead to a just and durable peace. President Putin must be disabused of the notion that it can succeed. The best way to actually hasten the prospects for real diplomacy is to sustain our support to Ukraine and continue to tilt the battlefield in its favor. That will also help ensure that Ukraine has the strongest possible negotiating position and hand to play when a negotiating table emerges,” Blinken stressed.
