U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
The U.S. is "very focused" on Russia's efforts to destabilize the region, and "we push back as we see them," U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told TURAN's Washington correspondent on Thursday.
Speaking at a virtual briefing organized by the State Department's Foreign Press Center, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield provided a readout of the 2021 Peacekeeping Ministerial, which was held this week.
"UN peacekeepers serve a vitally important role in maintaining international peace and security," she said.
The U.S is the largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping and the largest provider of peacekeeping capacity-building support in the world.
When asked by TURAN whether the UN could be actively involved in peacekeeping in the wider South Caucasus and Black Sea regions at the time when Russia is inserting its peacekeepers into Georgia, Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict zone, and Ukraine, Amb. Thomas-Greenfield said, "we try, to the extent that we can, to work with our Russian colleagues on areas of interest, but we’re also very consistent in our message to the Russians as it relates to conflict in the region."
"And you know that President Biden had a conversation with President Putin earlier this week, and we conveyed in no uncertain terms our concerns about the actions that we’re seeing play publicly – the actions that the Russians are taking on the Ukrainian border. Those are not peacekeepers. That is aggressive action," she added.
Biden told Putin directly that if Russia invades Ukraine, the U.S and Europe would respond, "and we would respond with strong economic measures that they would definitely feel" the Ambassador said. "We also indicated that we would provide additional defensive materials to the Ukrainians as well."
According to the White House, Biden on Thursday spoke with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reaffirmed Washington's unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"President Biden made clear that the United States and its allies and partners are committed to the principle of “no decisions or discussions about Ukraine without Ukraine.” The leaders called on Russia to de-escalate tensions and agreed that diplomacy is the best way to make meaningful progress on conflict resolution."
Alex Raufoglu
Washington D.C.
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