Blinken sceptical on Ukraine ceasefire with Russia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday voiced doubts about reaching a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying Russia has not shown good faith nearly two years after invading.

His remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland come a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky, while proposing a global peace summit, stayed firm that any settlement required Russia to leave Ukrainian territory.

“I don’t see it,” Blinken said of prospects for a ceasefire.

“We are always open to it, attentive to it, because more than anyone else the Ukrainian people want this,” he said.

“But there has to be a willingness on the part of Russia to engage, to negotiate in good faith, based on the basic principles that have been challenged by its aggression — territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence.

“If and when Russia is prepared to negotiate on that basis, it will find Ukrainians who want to do that and it will certainly find support from the United States,” Blinken said.

Calls for a ceasefire have grown as Ukraine struggles to take back eastern territories from Russia and as the US Congress delays approving more military assistance to Kyiv as requested by President Joe Biden.

Blinken voiced doubt on President Vladimir Putin’s intentions, noting that the United States spoke with Russia ahead of the February 2022 invasion about what Moscow described as security concerns on Ukraine.

Putin at the time had warned about Ukraine entering the NATO alliance.

“You don’t have to believe me. Just read what President Putin says. It was never really about that. It was always about this grand vision of re-establishing a greater Russia,” Blinken said.