Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Ukraine on Thursday that Russia needs to get to the point “where it recognizes that it has failed” in the war, and Russian President Vladimir Putin “is currently showing no evidence that he is interested. through meaningful diplomacy”.
Blinken made the remarks to NBC during a visit to a school in Yahidne, north of Kiev, which the channel said was used to detain hundreds of Ukrainians, many of whom died as a result of torture and beatings. deprivations inflicted by the Russian occupation forces before being driven out in fierce fighting.
“The Russians have to get to the point where they recognize they’ve failed. They won’t succeed,” Blinken said. “They have already failed in what they were trying to do, which is to erase Ukraine from the map, to end its identity as an independent country, to integrate it into Russia. This is a failure. .”
“There is no one to sit at the table with in the case of Ukraine because Putin shows no evidence yet that he is interested in meaningful diplomacy,” Blinken added.
BLINKEN PAYS UNNOUNCED VISIT TO kyiv TO REVIEW UKRAINE’S COUNTEROFFENSIVE AGAINST RUSSIA
Secretary of State Antony Blinken examines the weapons on Thursday as he visits the site of the seconded commander of the Ukrainian State Border Guards Security and Resource Supply Office in Kyiv Oblast, in Ukraine. (Brendan Smialowski, pool photo via AP)
Blinken arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday for his fourth visit since the war began early last year.
The trip aims to assess the effectiveness of the Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russian troops in occupied Ukrainian territories.
CORRUPTION FEARS GROW AS WE TRY TO TACKLE CORRUPTION WITH NEW AID PROGRAM
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, greets Secretary of State Antony Blinken before a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool via AP)
During his visit, Blinken on Wednesday unveiled a new round of financial assistance to Ukraine, including $175 million from Department of Defense stockpiles, $100 million in military funding, $90.5 million in humanitarian demining assistance, $300 million to support the country’s law enforcement agencies, $206 million in aid. humanitarian aid and $5.4 million in confiscated oligarch assets to support the reintegration and rehabilitation of former combatants.
The new package also includes $203 million to support transparency and accountability reform efforts in the country, with a State Department press release saying the package will help “fight corruption, rule of law and the justice sector; and building investigative capacity”. and prosecute Russia’s war crimes,” a point echoed by Blinken at a news conference in kyiv.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the Yahidne School, which is being converted into a museum, in Yahidne, Ukraine, on Thursday. The school was used as a headquarters by Russian forces who also used the basement to hold residents captive. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool via AP)
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“We are committed to assisting the Ukrainian government in its efforts to fight corruption and in its efforts to ensure accountability and full transparency of all the assistance we provide as well as the security of defense articles and technologies provided by U.S. President Zelenskyy and I discussed these issues today and the importance to Ukraine’s democratic future of continued reform and the fight against corruption,” Blinken said. .
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard and Michael Lee contributed to this report.
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