U.S Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has said that the U.S and its allies are working to prevent transfers of weapons to Russia.
He said this at a news conference in Paris with French Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephane Sejourne.
The West is concerned that the transfer of supplies such as cheap drones from Iran, artillery rounds from North Korea and the potential of deliveries from China could tip the balance in the conflict over two years after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“We are working day in, day out, to effectively prevent the transfer of weapons and materials to Russia, to fuel that war machine, to fuel the defence industrial base, including from Iran, from North Korea and from China,” Blinken stated.
“This is not just a threat to Ukraine, it’s a threat to European security overall,” Blinken added.
Also, Blinken disclosed that he discussed the “imperative” of maintaining support for Ukraine with his French counterpart.
Blinken stated that they discussed ways to help Kyiv build a “strong military.”
“We are ensuring that we will have a Ukraine that strands strongly on its own feet, militarily, economically, democratically, and that is the single best response to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s aggression.”
Antony Blinken
He added that France has been “crucial” to rallying other countries to assist Ukraine.
Additionally, Blinken stressed that Ukraine is at a “critical moment” in its war with Russia and urgently needs more Western support.
“It is absolutely essential to get Ukrainians what they continue to need to defend themselves, particularly when it comes to munitions and air defences,” Blinken averred.
He added, “It’s another reason why the supplementary budget request that President [Joe] Biden has made to [the US] Congress must be fulfilled as quickly as possible.”
U.S President, Joe Biden has urged the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives to endorse the military and financial aid package.
However, House Speaker, Mike Johnson has held up the matter for months, citing domestic priorities.
On his part, French Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephane Sejourne, announced that France will propose EU-wide level sanctions on Russian companies spreading “disinformation.”
War Not A Movie
Former Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko told a news agency that the ongoing war is “bigger than Ukraine.”
“This is about world order, freedom, democracy and they fight for basic principles of the world, and we are here fighting and saving the world,” he averred.
Poroshenko pushed back against the notion that Ukraine is losing the war and said that soldiers have “proven” that they can achieve a “miracle” on the battlefield.
“War is not a movie, and there is no scenario written beforehand. You can’t know the outcome before [the] war ends,” he said.
“We pay the biggest price for that. But believe me, please, do not trust [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and please do not believe Putin. … Putin doesn’t need either Donbas or Crimea or Kherson or Zaporizhia. Putin wants to erase Ukraine.”
Petro Poroshenko
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu said that forces have captured 400 square kilometers (150 square miles) of Ukrainian territory this year.
Referring to gains in the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions that Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022, despite not fully controlling them, Shoigu said, “Since the start of the year, 403 square kilometers… have come under our control.”
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