State Dept Defends U.S. Leadership In 'Preventing Conflicts From Spreading'

The United States on Thursday defended its leadership role in preventing conflicts from spreading, as well as holding malign actors accountable, as the State Department put it, TURAN's Washington president reports.

"Countries around the world are seeking further U.S. engagement in preventing these conflicts from spreading and holding malign actors accountable. And so that is a role we’ll continue to play and we’ll continue to engage," principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

"in the various conflicts that are currently taking place around the world, what there continues to be in common is this desire for the United States to continue to play its role as a key diplomatic partner on a lot of these endeavors," he added.

Patel's comments came amid increasing criticism towards the U.S. for failing to approve aid for Ukraine, Israel, and other countries.

Earlier on Thursday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Republican senators in the United States "should be ashamed" for blocking a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, saying former U.S. President Ronald Reagan would be "turning in his grave". Poland has been one of Ukraine's staunchest allies since Russia invaded the country in 2022

While Patel refrained from commenting directly on Polish criticism, he made it clear that the Biden administration "will continue to work tirelessly to get the supplemental across the finish line."

A $95 billion national security supplemental aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan finally cleared its first hurdle in the Senate Thursday afternoon after Republicans initially blocked it a day earlier.