WASHINGTON, Oct 21 – The United States will consider all means to advance diplomacy with Russia if it sees an opening, but for the moment Moscow is showing no sign of willingness to engage in meaningful talks, the U.S. Secretary of State said on Friday. Antony Blinken.
“Everything indicates that, far from being willing to engage in meaningful diplomacy, President Putin is still pushing in the opposite direction,” Blinken told a news conference with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna.
“We consider and will consider all means to advance diplomacy. If we see an opening to advance it by any means, of course we will always consider it,” he said, though he added that Moscow was instead “doubling and tripling” its aggression. .
Russia this week stepped up its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s water and power infrastructure in what kyiv and the West are calling a campaign to intimidate civilians ahead of the cold winter.
Blinken and other US representatives have repeatedly said that Moscow has shown no interest in meaningful diplomacy.