US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the US remains open to diplomacy with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, but said there’s no path unless Russia pulls back its forces.
“We of course remain open to pursuing any reasonable path, but it’s very hard to see any path when the bombs are dropping, the planes are flying the tanks are rolling,” Blinken told reporters at the State Department. “So de-escalation, pulling back forces, that would open a path of diplomacy.”
Blinken added that the US would help Ukraine diplomatically if Kyiv believes there’s a path that could end the war, but he noted that Russia often “goes through the pretense of diplomacy” while continuing on its aggressive path, noting the demands Moscow made in its first round of talks with Ukraine were “non-starters.”
“If Ukraine thinks there is a path that would help advance its interests protect it end the war and we can be helpful in that, of course we’re fully prepared to do that,” Blinken said.
“But we really look to the Ukrainian government to what if anything might make sense. They’re engaged in talks with Russia. They had one round, there may be another one, we’ll see. But, of course, the demands Russia put on the table were beyond excessive, they were of course non-starters," he said.
CNN
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