US says 'not seeing any sign' of an end to Russia-Ukraine war; reiterates support for Kyiv

 While Russia-Ukraine war entered day 99, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that conflict will last “many more months” based on current situation. During a press briefing on Wednesday, top US diplomat said that Washington can t really predict how situation in Ukraine would play out but ded that right w, war appears to continue for several more months. Blinken went on to say that war could end “tomorrow if Russia chose to end aggression. We don’t see any signs of that right w.”  

US Secretary of Defence said, “With regard to timelines, secretary general said it well.  We can’t predict how this is going to play out, when this is going to play out.  As best we can assess right w, we are still looking at many months of conflict.”

US Secretary of State also highlighted that Washington would support Ukraine against Russia “as long as this goes on”. He said, “We want to make sure that Ukraine has in hand what it needs to defend itself, and we want to make sure that Russia is feeling strong pressure from as many countries as possible to end aggression.”

“That’s best way, we think, to bring aggression to a close as soon as possible, to end war, to get to diplomacy, and to stop suffering,” he ded.

In Syria, US supports ‘current fire lines’: Blinken

Weighing in on situation in Syria, Blinken said that United States opposes any escalation in Syria and backs existing fire lines which allow Islamic State terror group, which is banned in Russia, in that country. He said, “Any escalation re, in Syria, is something that we would oppose, and we support maintenance of current fire lines”.

“We continue effectively to take fight through partners to dashed ISIS (Islamic State) within Syria, and we don't want to see anything that jeopardizes efforts that are me to continue to keep ISIS in box that we put it in,” he ded.  US Secretary of State stressed that his country believes any fresh offensive in Syria can undermine existing stability by providing malign actors with opportunities to exploit instability in country. 

Im: AP