The United States supplied Ukraine with various types of weapons months before Russia's full-scale invasion began.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about this in an interview with The New York Times.
US aid to Ukraine before Russia's full-scale invasion
According to him, there were many moments of tension between the US and Russia, where there were even situations with the threat of using nuclear weapons. And Washington “managed to act throughout this time in such a way as to prevent a direct conflict with Russia”.
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— Russia is now engaged in all sorts of nefarious activity, so-called hybrid attacks of one kind or another, whether it's in cyberspace, whether it's acts of sabotage, assassination. These things are happening. They're happening in Europe. And that's something that we're working very closely with many of our partners on. But in terms of direct conflicts, I don't think we've been close to that, but that's something that we have to be very, very attentive to, — Blinken said.
In addition, Blinken argues, the decision to support Ukraine was made with the confidence that the United States, Europe, and Ukraine were ready for it.
— We made sure that long before the Russian aggression began, starting in September and then in December, we quietly supplied Ukraine with a large quantity of weapons, to make sure that they have everything they need to defend themselves, things like the Stinger, the Javelin, which were instrumental in preventing Russia from taking Kyiv, from taking over the country, from wiping it off the map, and really pushing the Russians back, — Blinken said.
At the same time, he emphasized that the important factor is whether the Ukrainian military will be able to handle and maintain this or that weaponry.
— This is an Abrams tank? This is an F-16? Every time we have to look not only at what we have to give the Ukrainians, but also at whether they know how to use it. Will they be able to service it? Is this part of a consistent plan? All of these things were taken into account when deciding what to give them and when, — Blinken said.
Diplomacy with Russia and the end of the war
On diplomacy, the US Secretary of State claims that the Biden administration has made “an exceptional diplomatic effort” to bring together and hold together more than 50 countries, not only in Europe but beyond, in support of Ukraine.
— I worked very hard in the run-up to the war, including meetings with my Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva a couple of months before the war began, trying to find a way to see if we could prevent it, trying to test whether this was really about Russia's concern for its own security, its concern about Ukraine and the threat it poses, or NATO and the threat it poses.
Or is it related to what it really is, which is Putin’s imperial ambitions and desire to recreate a greater Russia, to incorporate Ukraine back into Russia. But we had to test that assumption. And we have been heavily engaged diplomatically with Russia, — a top U.S. diplomat says.
Since then, Blinken continued, if there was an opportunity for diplomatic engagement that could end the war on fair and lasting terms, the United States would be the first to seize it.
— Unfortunately, at least until now, we have seen no sign that Russia is truly willing to engage. I hope that will change, — the head of the State Department believes.
The US Secretary of State also repeated the assertion that the Ukrainians should decide on ending the war.
— They should decide where their future is and how they want to get there. I don't think that where the line is drawn on the map at the moment will change much, — Blinken believes.
He also added that in order for a ceasefire to be implemented and one that would be truly durable, it is critical to ensure that Ukraine has the capacity to deter further aggression.
— And this can happen in different forms. It can happen through NATO, and we will put Ukraine on the path to joining NATO. This can happen through security assurances, commitments, guarantees from different countries, so that Russia knows that if it attacks again, it will be in big trouble.
Recall that earlier US Secretary of State Blinken said that Washington was seriously concerned in the past about the risk of Russia using nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine.
