Blinken Describes Russia’s ‘Failures’ as Finland Becomes NATO’s Latest Member

The Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has criticized Russia’s continued aggression towards Ukraine, calling out President Putin’s inaction in meaningful diplomacy while inflicting suffering on Ukrainian citizens and losing more Russian lives.

Blinken noted that the US would support any initiative promoting peaceful solutions and meaningful diplomacy by bringing President Putin to the table. However, he made it clear that a peace agreement must include accountability for Russia’s wartime atrocities and payments for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Blinken affirmed that any peace agreement should abide by the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence, but did not specify whether Russia’s withdrawal from Ukrainian territory would be the only way to achieve this.

Blinken also suggested that a genuine peace deal could lead to the lifting of Western sanctions on Russia relating to concrete actions, particularly military withdrawal. Furthermore, he added that the US has no plans to oust the Russian government.

Earlier in the day, Blinken met with Finland’s prime minister Sanna Marin and foreign minister Pekka Haavisto to discuss their recent accession to NATO. He stated that Putin had made a colossal mistake in losing the support of Finland, where only one in four people backed NATO membership pre-invasion, compared to three in four after the event.