Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States and Ukraine’s other partners are making significant diplomatic efforts to secure peace in that country, but “it must be a just peace based on principles. of the Charter of the United Nations”.
“It must be a just peace based on the principles of the United Nations Charter – sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence – and it must be a lasting peace that ensures that Russia cannot simply rest and re-equip its troops and then resume war. at any time, there is time,” Blinken told a news conference following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
According to the head of the State Department, sanctions and export controls imposed by the West are having a growing impact on the Russian economy.
“We have pressured and intensified the pressure on Russia with unprecedented sanctions and export controls which are having a dramatic and growing impact,” he said. – The Kremlin’s financial reserves have been drastically reduced. Since last year, its budget revenue from oil and gas has halved. Hundreds, if not more than a thousand companies have left the country and will not return. Hundreds of thousands of young people have left Russia – literally the future of Russia.
The Secretary of State condemned the Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, stressing that “thanks to the incredible courage and bravery of the Ukrainian people and the unprecedented support of Ukraine’s partners, Ukraine has endured.”
More than 50 countries are helping Ukraine secure, protect and rebuild its energy system against a Russian offensive, Blinken said.
Blinken stressed that until peace is restored to Ukraine, the United States, along with its allies and partners around the world, will continue to provide the assistance it needs to protect its territory and people.
“We are also thinking about what we can do over a longer period to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to deter and protect against aggression and, if necessary in the future, to defeat aggression. And a big part of that is bringing Ukraine up to NATO standards and interoperability with NATO,” the Secretary of State said.
“NATO’s doors remain open,” he said, adding that “NATO is a defensive alliance that does not seek conflict with Russia.”
“But this is a defensive alliance that needs to have powerful deterrents precisely because we want to make sure that (aggressive) countries think twice, think triple, and then refrain from aggression.” , recalled Anthony Blinken.
