No Russian Interest In Stopping Aggression, Blinken Say As U.S. Restores Defense Channel

The United States has seen 'no evidence' that Russia is actually interested in stopping its aggression in Ukraine, the top U.S. diplomat, Antony Blinken, said on Friday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports from the State Department.

“Every indication is that far from being willing to engage in meaningful diplomacy, President Putin continues to push in the opposite direction,” the secretary said at a news conference with the French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

Blinken's comments came hours after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke on the phone Friday morning, for the first time since May.

Austin “emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine,” the Pentagon said in a readout of the call.

Blinken in his turn, told the press conference that the U.S.considers "and will consider every means to advance diplomacy if we see an opening to advance it by whatever means,” noting that Moscow was instead “doubling and tripling down” on its aggression.

Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s power and water infrastructure this week in what Ukraine and the West call a campaign to intimidate civilians ahead of winter.

Blinken said, Putin thinks drone attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine “will somehow break the will of Ukrainian people,” but the strikes are having the opposite effect: “He’s only deepening the resolve to defend their country"

President Putin "thought he could divide the transatlantic alliance. Instead, he’s brought us even closer together," Blinken added. Washington is working closely with France and other European allies to help make the decisive shift away from dependence on Russian energy.

Blinken also repeated the U.S. assertion that Russia’s drones are supplied by Iran, an assessment echoed by a growing number of international bodies this week. Moscow and Tehran officials deny collaborating on the attacks.

The strikes have “a clear goal: to make the Ukrainian people suffer,” the secretary said. “Moscow can knock out the lights across Ukraine, but it cannot, it will not, extinguish the Ukrainian spirit,” he added.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.