US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Supports Ukraine at Black Sea Security Conference

2024-04-15 15:42:00
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken (EFE/ Antonio Lacerda)

The United States does not want to see any escalation of hostilities with Iran, but will continue to defend Israel after it was attacked by Tehran, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

“We are not seeking escalation, but we will continue to support Israel’s defense and protect our personnel in the region,” Blinken said at the start of a meeting with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Tamim.

The American official also participated in the Second Black Sea Security Conference in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. Through a video, he stressed the importance of investing in the security of the region to guarantee peace and freedom throughout Europe.

Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, in 2014. It has served as a key center of support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin ordered in February 2022.

“Putin believed Ukraine’s neighbors in the region would be divided, but he was wrong,” Blinken said, adding that “the United States will continue to support Ukraine so it can defend itself today and stand.”

His Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, said his country needed essential military support, including artillery, ammunition and air defense systems to bolster its capacity against the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion.

Kuleba, also speaking by video, said that increasing Ukrainian air defense capabilities will also strengthen regional and global stability, as it in turn protects the security of Ukraine’s neighbors and the entire Black Sea region from Russian air terrorism. .

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks with North American Secretary of State Antony Blinken (REUTERS/Johanna Geron)

“Today, there is no other language that Moscow understands better than the language of force. This is what they respect, everything else they consider a weakness,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Kuleba also said the Black Sea must become “NATO’s sea of ​​peace and stability,” calling on the alliance to implement “a comprehensive and ambitious Black Sea strategy aimed at reducing Russia’s malign influence.” ”.

NATO celebrated its 75th anniversary earlier this month as it weighed a plan to provide more predictable, long-term military support to Ukraine.

The Kremlin wants kyiv to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and recognize the annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine has flatly refused.

The conference is jointly organized by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Bulgaria and Ukraine in partnership with the Center for Defense Strategies of Ukraine and aims to strengthen security in the Black Sea region.

Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine border the Black Sea.

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