Blinken: Putin is not serious about ending the war through diplomacy

“So far we have seen no indication that President Putin is serious for meaningful negotiations”, Blinken said before the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

While the U.S. will support Ukrainian efforts to end the war through diplomacy, Blinken said that our “goal is to make sure that they have in their hands the ability to fight Russian aggression, and to strengthen their position on the negotiating table”.

Blinken thus answered questions from Republican Senator Rand Paul, who accused US President Joe Biden of contributing to Putin's decision to invade Kiev, as he said he spoke of the possibility of Ukraine being admitted to NATO.

But, Blinken said that in talks with Russia, prior to the start of the occupation on February 24th, it was clear that Putin's concerns over the unification of Ukraine into this Western alliance were the pretext for the start of the war.

We tried to engage them in these situations with seriousness”, Blinken said.

This war was never due to the fact that Ukraine could potentially become a part of NATO, but it concerns his belief that Ukraine does not deserve to be a sovereign and independent country”, he added.

Russia has begun its invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. In recent weeks, Russian troops have withdrawn from northern Ukraine and have said they will focus their military operations to free “” the birth of Ukraine.