Ukraine's attempt to retake Crimea could cause Russian retaliation: Antony Blinken

Washington: Ukraine’s attempt to retake Crimea could cause Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government to retaliate, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a group of experts.

Blinken also said that the US thinks Ukraine should stay away from trying to retake Crimea at this point in time.

Putin sees Crimea as part of Russia and not Ukraine. The Russian president, who took Crimea from Ukraine almost a decade ago, would be horrified to see the peninsula taken from his control. Meanwhile, Republican and Democratic administrations have reaffirmed that “Crimea is Ukraine”.

In a private Zoom call, Blinken was asked if the US is willing to help Ukraine realise its long-term goal of retaking the territory seized by Moscow.

A report by Politico mentioned four people with knowledge of Blinken’s response saying the Secretary of the State conveyed that the US isn’t actively encouraging Ukraine to retake Crimea, but that the decision is Kyiv’s alone.

“The administration’s main focus is helping Ukraine advance where the fight is, mainly in the east,” Blinken said.

US doesn’t want Ukraine to retake Crimea

Two people, with the knowledge of Blinken’s response, said he gave the impression that the US doesn’t consider a push to retake Crimea to be a wise move at this time. They emphasises that He did not those words explicitly.

Other two people, however, did not take Blinken’s comments that way and said the secretary remarked that it is solely the Ukrainians’ decision as to what they try to take by force, not of the US.

For the unversed, the US and NATO diplomats and military officials have been publicly stating that Crimea is part of Ukraine.

“Overall the message is that there is a lot of uncertainty on how things will go from here with real questions about capacity of either side to make big gains,” the report quoted one of the people saying.

This week, Blinken will join foreign dignitaries, including Ukrainian officials, at the Munich Security Conference. During the meet, the diplomat will talk about ways to coordinate security assistance to the country as the war enters its second year this February end.

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