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Blinken says Putin not interested in stopping war
Antony Blinken says the US will keep up contacts with Russia but that any broader diplomacy depends on President Vladimir Putin showing an interest “in stopping the aggression”.
Agence France-Presse reported that Blinken told a joint news conference with the French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, in Washington on Friday:
We have seen no evidence of that in this moment. On the contrary, we see Russia doubling and tripling down on its aggression.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, held rare telephone talks with the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, on Friday. Few details of the conversation emerged but both sides confirmed they had discussed Ukraine.
The Pentagon declined to offer specifics beyond saying that Austin, who initiated the conversation, emphasised a need for lines of communication amid the war in Ukraine.
Blinken pointed to Russia’s recent attacks on power stations and other civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and the mobilisation of troops who he called “horrifically, cannon fodder that Putin is trying to throw into the war”.
Blinken said:
The fundamental difference is that Ukrainians are fighting for their country, their land, their future. Russia is not and the sooner President Putin understands that and comes to that conclusion, the sooner we will be able to end this war.
Key events
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Summary
Welcome back to the Guardian’s ongoing live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a rundown on the latest news and overnight developments as it approaches 9.15am in Kyiv.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the west to warn Russia not to blow up a hydroelectric dam that would flood a large part of southern Ukraine, as the Ukrainian president’s forces prepared to push Moscow’s troops from the occupied city of Kherson. In a television address, Zelenskiy said Russian forces had planted explosives inside the huge Nova Kakhovka dam, which holds back an enormous reservoir, and were planning to blow it up. “Now everyone in the world must act powerfully and quickly to prevent a new Russian terrorist attack. Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster.”
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A Russian-appointed official in Kherson has denied Kyiv’s allegations that Moscow’s forces have started mining the dam. Citing state-owned news agency RIA, Reuters reported that Kirill Stremousov said Zelenskiy’s claims it had started mining the dam were “false”.
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The office of Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed it will “not succumb to peace by coercion”, threatening to hit back harder if Russia destroys the hydroelectric dam in Kherson.
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The Pentagon confirmed a phone call between the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu. They said Austin “emphasised the importance of maintaining lines of communication” with Shoigu. Russia’s defence ministry said of the call: “Topical issues of international security, including the situation in Ukraine, were discussed.”
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The Pentagon also published a readout of Austin’s call with the Ukrainian defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov. The US defence secretary pledged “unwavering US commitment” to supporting Ukraine against Russia.
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The UK, France and Germany have called for a UN investigation into accusations that Russia is using Iranian drones in Ukraine. If found to be true, the allegations would be in breach of UN security council resolution 2231. A letter, seen by Reuters, was circulated to UN security council members by the three countries, known as the E3.
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US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the US would consider every means to advance diplomacy with Russia if it saw an opening, but at the moment Moscow showed no sign of willingness to engage in meaningful talks. Reuters reported Blinken as saying: “Every indication is that far from being willing to engage in meaningful diplomacy, President Putin continues to push in the opposite direction.”
