Today US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken criticized Russian attempts to stir up disputes in democratic countries with disinformation, the Associated Press reported. He hinted that the Biden administration could soon allow Ukraine to use US-supplied munitions to strike targets in Russia, BTA quoted.
At the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Prague, Blinken spoke about Moscow's disinformation, calling it "poison" and signed an agreement with the Czech government to combat it. On a visit to a Czech military base, he viewed armored vehicles that Prague is sending to Kiev to help repel a Russian invasion.
"We know that the information front is one of the main fronts of the competition that we have and the adversarial relationship that we have, especially with Russia," Blinken said. The agreement with the Czech Republic (the 17th signed by the US with partner countries) will help "effectively deal with disinformation, which is poison injected into democratic countries by our enemies," he added during his meeting with the Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavski works.
Lipavski agreed, noting that Czech authorities recently uncovered a major Russian-backed disinformation campaign.
"We are facing a confrontation between democracy and autocracy," said Lipavski. "The Kremlin has begun targeting democracies around the world through cyber warfare, propaganda and influence operations, and this danger can no longer be underestimated," he added.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and support for Kiev in repelling it will be the main topic of the NATO foreign ministers' meetings today and tomorrow, AP notes. This is the last important diplomatic meeting before the leaders negotiate again in July in Washington, when they will also mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the alliance.
Blinken said yesterday in Moldova that US policy on how Ukraine should use American weapons is constantly being discussed, hinting that Washington could allow Ukraine to use them to attack Russia.
Although senior U.S. officials say there is no such formal ban, they have long said they believe using U.S. weapons to strike targets in Russia would provoke a response from Moscow that would worsen the situation - something Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin promised.
This position, it seems, will be rethought, and Blinken noted that the "distinguishing mark" the Biden administration's position on Ukraine is that it is "adapting and accommodating" when necessary.
Blinken visited Kiev earlier this month, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the possibility of US military aid being used to strike Russian positions from which attacks are launched against Ukraine.
„As conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as Russia's actions have changed in terms of how it exercises its aggression and escalation, we have also adapted and adjusted, and I'm confident we will continue to let's do it“, said Blinken at a press conference in Chisinau.
„Every step of the way we have adapted and changed when necessary, and that is exactly what we will continue to do going forward,”, he said. “We are always listening, always learning and always determining what is needed to ensure that Ukraine can effectively continue to defend itself, and we will continue to do so,”, he stressed.
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Western countries should not oppose if Ukraine had to strike inside Russia to defend itself.