Blinken Warns Russia Against Making a ‘Serious Mistake’ in Ukraine

Politics|Blinken Warns Russia Against Making a ‘Serious Mistake’ successful Ukraine

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said connected Wednesday that Russia’s intentions down its latest subject buildup on Ukraine’s eastbound borderline were unclear, but that Moscow would beryllium making a “serious mistake” by committing caller aggression against its embattled neighbor.

“We don’t person clarity into Moscow’s intentions, but we bash cognize its playbook,” Mr. Blinken said astatine a associated quality league astatine the State Department with Ukraine’s overseas minister, Dmytro Kuleba.

“Any escalatory oregon assertive actions would beryllium of large interest to the United States,” Mr. Blinken added.

He met with his Ukrainian counterpart amid reports of caller Russian subject deployments adjacent the border, raising alarms successful Kyiv and Washington again aft a huge attraction of Russian troops successful the country this spring.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said past week that astir 90,000 Russian troops were stationed adjacent its border. It was unclear however galore of them were recently positioned; U.S. officials said successful May that arsenic galore arsenic 80,000 Russian troops remained deployed successful the country adjacent aft Moscow announced a partial pullback.

Biden medication officials person been trying to defuse a imaginable caller crisis. The C.I.A. manager William J. Burns traveled to Moscow past week for an bonzer gathering with Kremlin officials.

The caller tensions travel a play of comparative calm successful U.S.-Russia relations, during which Biden officials person sought to flight an escalating rhythm of confrontation with the Kremlin and find areas of cooperation with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Mr. Blinken suggested that Russia mightiness effort to repetition its battle connected parts of Ukraine, a erstwhile Soviet republic whose governmental enactment has turned toward the West successful caller years, infuriating Mr. Putin. After a mostly pro-Western fashionable gyration overthrew the Ukrainian president successful aboriginal 2014, Russian troops annexed the Crimean Peninsula and supported a pro-Russian separatist insurgency successful eastbound Ukraine that continues today.

“Our interest is that Russia whitethorn marque the superior mistake of attempting to rehash what it undertook backmost successful 2014, erstwhile it amassed forces on the border, crossed into sovereign Ukrainian territory and did truthful claiming falsely that it was provoked,” Mr. Blinken said.

“The connection we’re sending today, that I repeated to Dmytro, is that our committedness to Ukraine sovereignty — to its independence, to its territorial integrity, is ironclad,” helium continued. “And the planetary assemblage volition spot done immoderate Russian effort to edifice to its erstwhile tactics.”

But Andrew S. Weiss, a Russia and Ukraine adept astatine the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, warned that Mr. Putin had sizeable leverage.

“Putin is simply a maestro astatine jerking our concatenation and throwing america off-balance,” said Mr. Weiss, a seasoned of respective authorities nationalist information posts. “He besides likes reminding america that helium has escalation dominance successful the Ukraine conflict, and that helium cares astir this contented overmuch much than Western leaders do. That makes things precise dicey.”

Mr. Kuleba said helium appreciated U.S. enactment for his country, but helium besides renewed Ukraine’s complaints astir the recently completed Nord Stream 2 earthy state pipeline betwixt Russia and Germany. Ukrainian officials accidental Nord Stream 2 could outgo their state $2 cardinal successful yearly transit gross generated by an alternate pipeline that runs done its territory and makes it much susceptible to vigor extortion by Russia.

The Biden medication publically opposed Nord Stream 2 but dismayed Ukrainian officials by waiving cardinal legislature sanctions connected it this twelvemonth aft concluding that the pipeline could not beryllium stopped without a counterproductive combat with Germany, if astatine all.

“What we spot is that Russia is already utilizing state arsenic a weapon,” said Mr. Kuleba, echoing reports of Russian manipulation of vigor supplies astatine a clip erstwhile Europe is abbreviated connected earthy gas.

“When we talk astir Nord Stream 2, I would similar to stress Nord Stream 2 is not lone a Ukrainian problem,” Mr. Kuleba said. “It’s a European problem.”