Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday signaled that there will be no change to the US policy of supporting Ukraine despite warnings from Russia that they could use nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory.
Speaking to the UN Security Council, Blinken said it was up to Putin to end the war and that the US would continue supporting Ukraine. “Because if Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends,” he said.
“That’s why we will continue to support Ukraine as it defends itself, and strengthen its hand to achieve a diplomatic solution on just terms at a negotiating table,” Blinken added.
Throughout the war, the Biden administration has said that it was arming Ukraine to help Kyiv gain a stronger hand in negotiations, but the US has shown no interest in pursuing a diplomatic solution. Blinken has only spoken with his Russian counterpart one time since Russia invaded on February 24, and the conversation was focused on a potential prisoner swap.
Blinken also criticized Moscow for the referendums on joining Russia that will be held in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. “Russia’s effort to annex more Ukrainian territory is another dangerous escalation, as well as a repudiation of diplomacy,” he said.
Addressing Russia’s nuclear warnings, Blinken said the Security Council should “send a clear message that these reckless nuclear threats must stop immediately.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also addressed the Security Council and made clear that Moscow views the US and its allies as a party to the conflict. “What’s particularly cynical is the position of states that are pumping Ukraine full of weapons and training their soldiers,” he said.
Lavrov said Ukraine’s Western backers want “to wear down and weaken Russia.” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has previously said that one of Washington’s goals in the war is to see a “weakened” Russia. “That policy means the direct involvement of the West in the conflict,” Lavrov said.
“If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends” — so in other words, No talk, no negotiating, no discussion. Just adamantine statements. Remind anyone of Cato “Carthago delenda est”? (Carthage must be destroyed) Even though Carthage was completely disarmed, a supplicant at this point to Rome, Cato ended every speech he gave to the Senate with this phrase. Hate for hate’s sake. Never let go of that self-defining fear. And the Romans came to rue their intransigence, as it marked the end of the Republic.
Do you think there is room for talks, and negotiations with Russia? Are you pretending you dont see what Russia wants and is doing?
You are right, Ukraine will fight till the end because there will be no Ukraine if they dont.
There will be “talks/negotiations” with Russia once Putin reaches a point where he can “negotiate” without being removed from power. He’s obviously been under pressure from his masters to escalate, but if he can ever secure LPR, DPR, and a land corridor connecting them to Crimea, he’ll have grounds to declare “victory” and “negotiate” Russian withdrawal from areas he’s never going to secure (Kherson and Zaporizhzia oblasts minus the land corridor) on terms that might not result in a tragic fall from a window.
A broken record, you are.
All Russia wanted was for Ukraine to stay out of NATO. The US vetoed this.
“The U.S. will fight Russia until the last Ukrainian.”
If Ukraine stops fighting, North and Western Ukraine stays in one piece. South and East will become part of Russia.
“If Ukraine stops fighting, North and Western Ukraine stays in one piece until the next time Putin’s masters tell him it’s time to pick up a crappy little country and throw it against a wall just to prove we are serious.”
Fixed, no charge.
I see you are channeling Neocon Jonah Goldberg.
Historically the region has been back and forth. Europe unlike the US has 1000’s of years of internecine history. The US is meddling in an area in which is it incautious and its political class is uninformed and self-interested. Other parties who have clout are expressly self-interested (eg, armaments makers, military, lobbyists). I’m with Henry Kissinger on this: Putin did not want Ukraine in NATO. NATO is an empire that wields military force with no actual responsibility to a geography and is intent on expansion of this capability. But it needs an enemy: hence, Russia. Similarly the US wants the distraction of an external enemy to have us look away from domestic issues. Think about Persian Gulf 2, the Afghanistan war….WWI. We are in a frenzy of groupthink.
Blinken Says US Will Continue to Occupy Ukraine Despite Putin’s Nuclear Warning
Well that sounds like Ukraines problem, not Russias
And after Putin’s latest stunt, you can be assured, Ukraine is getting more HIMARS, tanks, planes, ammunition and LONG range missiles. Ukraine will not fall to Russia.
That depends entirely on the level of intensity of Russian military action. More and more Russians are demanding that Putin go “full ape$^*%” on Ukraine.
Hardliners in the Russian administration and military wanted Putin to go full “shock and awe” in February.
Well, some of them are also calling for him to resign as well.
And plenty are protesting in the streets.
This is why Putin issued the warning. He’s not known for bluffing.
I guess if Russia views us as a party to the conflict, that makes us a potential nuclear target…
Been a potential target for most of my life, so yawn. I have come to trust the doctrine of MAD
We have not had an administration this idiotic. Biden’s Leni Riefanstahl inspired moment the other night was creep as h*ll.
That’s like saying the earth hasn’t been destroyed by a meteor yet. Your right for a long time and you’ll never be proven wrong unless you can get it out there before your dead or you wish you were dead. I know I’m going to die; I just never think it’s going to be today.
Bingo. The US/NATO have gone to great lengths to assure that Russia cannot retaliate against a first strike. The whole purpose has been to neutralize the doctrine of MAD. Indeed, the encroachment of NATO into adjacent countries and the attempt to gain a foothold in Ukraine is one of the chief reasons for this conflict.
Well, Donna, death has to have some excuse. There are worse things than dying in a nuclear blast and surviving one might be one of them.
“That’s why we will continue to support Ukraine as it defends itself, and strengthen its hand to achieve a diplomatic solution on just terms at a negotiating table,” Blinken added.
Like before the war started? Somehow being a cratered shithole with thousands upon thousands of dead people is the only way in Blinky’s mind “to achieve a diplomatic solution on just terms at a negotiating table”. Blinky wouldn’t know what a negotiating table looks like if it bit him on his neocon ass.
Blinken said what!!???? Russia wanted to negotiate last December. We said nope. In April, Ukraine and Russian representatives agreed to sit down and negotiate and end to the madness. We sent Boris the Messenger to shut it down. And Blinken says what!!?? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
I think Lloyd Austin was there at the same time as Boris. With the same message. Of course, like you said, Boris had already gotten it.
Well the US cannot be seen as backing down in public.
In private the US may have decided to take a baby step back from the brink.
Time will tell I suppose.
Biden did back down in Afghanistan. But that probably reinforces your point.
This is basic math. Russia will not allow itself to be treated like Germany or Japan after WWII. This was obvious on February 24. Since we are mind controlled to hate on Russia, we will not stop congress and the deep state from escalating. Therefore, Russia will retaliate. This is exactly why I didn’t want this war to start. We as people seem to be a lot dumber than in the early sixties even when nuclear weapons were not as powerful. Escalations will result in WWIII and nuclear Armageddon. Hope for peace is dead–no referendum to establish its demise needed.
Not necessarily. I think it is very possible for traditional military hostilities to break out without one or both sides going nuclear.
Why take the risk?
Nobody is suggesting invading Russia, talk of regime change is foolish. Russia needs to leave Ukraine and that is about the end of it.
Russia will. When there are security agreements for the Russia-speaking people in Donbas, Ukraine stays out of NATO, there are guarantees that nukes will not be rolled up to the border of Russia which will probably included the four districts that are to vote for a referendum to become part of Russia, as did Crimea (which, by the way, is the only warm water port for the Russia fleet, which our guys in the CIA and Pentagon wanted to prevent happening).
It will not do that until there are security guarantees to Russiian speaking populstion snd broader Christian Orthodox population whose religious institutions have been shamefully put under state control since 2014.
What are the chances of that happening? Eight years of Minsk I then Minsk II. Utterly ignored and military actions taken against the region, no overtures of goidwill to the population. And how do we think fared those outside of Donbas? Darkness swallowed many.
We seem incapable of accepting that such Nazi regimes should not be slliwed to exist. We minimized for years the horrors. Downplayed its immenseness. We have been conditioned to think those proole are of no
value and have more sympathy for victims in Yemen, then nationality based killings of people in Ukraine.
And what did Zelenski just do – to the utter silence in the commentariat or anywhere else. He will have Ukraine run like Israel with military in charge. Nodody in the world missed his neaning — except here in US and Eurolpe. Of course, we all know who his Palestinians would be. By adding fuel to the fire, Zelenski clearly under Biden’s direction — is adding fuel to the fire.
So, how can Russia leave Ukraine? Of course it cannot. It came in as Minsk was trashed and shelling of Donbas started in earnest,
It moved in to give at least some Russian regions the opportunity to escape. Referendum is mandatory under UN internationsl law in the right to self determination.
This is the step that is not reversible unless US wants to go to war with Rusdia to reverse it.
All Ukraine had to do is to treat all their population equally and to continue being multi-lungual country as Canada or Switzerland.
CLEARLY it did not want to. Wanted to oporess them with ling term hope of dissapearing. Shelling Donbas was an enticement to population to flee to Russia .
And to guarantee the ethnic cleansing in such vast scale, Ukraine was to become a NATO member.
What in this situation gives hope that Russia would consider withdrawing? Anything at all?
It is implementing UN requirements for self-determination. Only military might can now erase this act.
I do understand why the collective West is determined to stop this. There are still many places in the workd where dominance of Western countries resulted in physical and always economic depressiin. The whole anti-colonial movement was based on the right fir self-determination and freedom from abuse.
But Western world essentially recolinized many places, sufficating them economically, allowing crime to flourish and lical militancy — all to keep natives helpless, uneducated and obedient.
There are many places around globe watching Russia’s intervention very carefully.
ensky is a bolshevic , complete opposite of a “Nazi”
and you are a kiwi I suppose,
Yeah!! The USA and NATO would never invade another country, right? And “regime change” never entered the minds of the peace loving DC political class.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya……. and, of course Ukraine. Uh, uh, uh. Never mind.
Regime change in Russia can be done by CIA/MI6 operatives and snipers already in Russia without invading.
If that’s the case, why hasn’t it happened? Is Putin a CIA/MI6 operative or something?
Seems a waste of the many open windows
BS
Oh NO John!!!! You have not noticed the USA and the West for the last thirty years, since the USSR imploded?????
Sorry Tony, not even our closest allies believe that “if Russia stops fighting, the war ends.” The war in Afghanistan supposedly ended last year. But the sanctions continue. The famine there is so severe that people are selling body parts to buy food.
Poroshenko admitted, Minsk 1&2 was used to buy time to strengthen the army to confront Russia militarily. NATO admitted to future plans to box Russia in. They were determined to recapture the Donbass and Crimea, So there you have it. Russia is fully justified to stop it’s SMO in Paris, after passing through Kiev and Berlin. The western gangster need a bloody nose
A “diplomatic solution” could have been reached during the three months prior to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine in February 24. The west ignored Putin’s repeated requests to come to the conference table and discuss the Minsk Agreements that were signed by Ukraine. Yet NATO chose the war option. The ball is in their court now and with the new Russian hypersonic undetectable missiles America for the first time in its history may be under attack themselves.
What does the American taxpayer say?
Blinken is striving to be the worst FM in US history, a herculian task but he is probably there. The USA has a long record of invading “sovereign nations” and it is the USA which has threatened others with nukes, NOT Russia. Ukraine is just a pawn in the US∕NATO battle to destroy Russia. Luckily, Russia will not accept this fate.