Secretary Antony J. Blinken To Mission Ukraine Staff
REMARKS

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

U.S. EMBASSY KYIV

KYIV, UKRAINE

JANUARY 19, 2022

https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-to-mission-ukraine-staff/

Taken in part from above link;

As you all know very, very well, we have been engaged in the past couple of months in an intense focus on Ukraine because of the significant buildup we’ve seen of Russian forces near the Ukrainian border. No provocation, no reason except that we have a very significant force; we know that there are plans in place to increase that force even more on very short notice, and that gives President Putin the capacity, also on very short notice, to take further aggressive action against Ukraine. And that, of course, has gotten not only our attention but it’s gotten the attention of virtually all of our allies and partners, and not just in Europe, even beyond.

And as you all know very well because you’re working this every day, we have tried to make clear that there are two paths for Russia. There is the path of diplomacy and dialogue to try to resolve whatever differences there are peacefully, through diplomacy – clearly the preferable path, clearly the most responsible path and the one that we would prefer.

But there is also the path, if Russia chooses to renew aggression, of confrontation and consequences for Russia, and we have been working to build out both of those paths in very close coordination and collaboration with allies and partners – something that you’re doing here at the embassy as well, given all of the work that you’re doing with some of the other embassies and missions here in Kyiv.

As much as we are all focused on Ukraine and our own commitment to its sovereignty, to its territorial integrity, to its independence, I think you all know very well that this is in a sense bigger than Ukraine. And when some of our fellow citizens back home ask us why are we so focused on this, not just now but back in 2014 when Russia went into Crimea and then into the Donbas – why is this something that the United States has to focus on? – and the answer is this: Of course it goes to the feelings we have for Ukraine, the partnership that so many of you have been building over these years, but it’s also bigger than Ukraine.

It’s bigger than Ukraine because what Russia is doing with the aggression that it has already committed and the threat of further aggression is to challenge the very basic principles that undergird the entire international system and are necessary for trying to keep peace and security. Principles like one nation can’t simply change the borders of another by force. Principles like one nation can’t simply dictate to another its choices, including with whom it will associate. Principles like nations cannot exert spheres of influence to try to subjugate their neighbors to their will.
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Meanwhile Russia begs to differ.

That blinken warmonger, couldn't give s"*t.

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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday he did not believe there was a risk of a large-scale war starting to unfold in Europe or elsewhere, and Moscow had no plans to attack, strike or invade Ukraine.

Ryabkov, speaking in English, said the threat of Ukraine becoming ever more integrated into NATO was something that went right to the heart of Russia's national security interests.

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/technology/1889056-no-risk-of-large-scale-war-unfolding-in-europe---russias-ryabkov

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Fox.