Blinken sees ‘zero evidence’ Putin ready for peace talks
TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN — Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said during a visit to Uzbekistan on Wednesday that the Biden administration saw “zero evidence” that President Vladimir Putin of Russia was prepared to engage in serious peace talks over his war in Ukraine, despite growing calls from some nations for such talks to start.
“To the contrary, the evidence is all in the other direction,” Blinken said, adding, “The real question is whether Russia will get to a point where it is genuinely prepared to end its aggression.”
The United States and its European allies insist that their main goal for now is to increase military aid to Ukraine so it can take back its territory and be in a better position if substantial talks eventually start. Only then would there be a chance for a “just and durable” peace, Blinken said.
Yet several senior Pentagon officials have said recently that they believe the war is settling into a long grind. And some countries that say they hold a neutral position on the war increas- ingly assert that Russia and Ukraine should begin explor- ing serious talks.
Among them are Central Asian countries and several members of the Group of 20 nations, which is holding a gathering of foreign ministers in India over the next several days. Blinken flew there Wednesday night.
The United States also fears China will lend lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine, a worry underscored Wednesday when China’s leader, Xi Jinping, met in Beijing with President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, a key Putin ally.
Blinken acknowledged there were difficult “sec- ond- and third-order con- sequences” of the war that were being felt by many nations. “Few regions have been more acutely affected than Central Asia, includ- ing Uzbekistan,” he said, pointing to surging prices for food and energy.
Countries urging that peace talks start soon have expressed some support for talking points on nego- tiations that China issued on Friday, the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale inva- sion. The 12 points in that “peace plan” were reiterations of bland statements of principle that China has made throughout the con- flict, including China’s long- standing declaration that all nations should respect one another’s inviolable sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Kazakhstan, which Blinken visited Tuesday, said on Saturday that China’s points “deserves support as an end to bloodshed.” Both China and Russia are major trade partners for Kazakhstan.
But Blinken on Wednesday stuck to his skeptical view of the proposal, saying that while there were “positive elements” in the document, China had yet to express genuine commitment to its principle of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity because it had not condemned Russia’s invasion.
He also pointed to the Russian disinformation that Beijing has officially supported about the war, as well as the Biden administration’s assertion that China is considering providing Russia with weapons.
Blinken is the first Biden administration cabinet official to visit Central Asia, a region of former Soviet republics that Moscow considers within its sphere of influence. The countries have sought to maintain a neutral stance on Russia’s war, and they all have close economic, security and diplomatic ties with Moscow, although some leaders and senior officials in the region have made recent skeptical remarks about the invasion.
Blinken’s trip in Central Asia has been a direct diplomatic strike at Moscow.