‘Punish Russia for Ukraine War’ - US Secretary of State

NEW DELHI, India 

The so-called Quad group Friday released a statement after their meeting where they said the use, or threat of use, of nuclear weapons in Ukraine was “inadmissible.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the forum in India where he said allowing Russia to continue its invasion with no consequences would pave way to other nations following suit.

“If we allow with impunity Russia to do what it’s doing in Ukraine, then that’s a message to would-be aggressors everywhere that they may be able to get away with it too,” said Blinken.

Senior U.S. officials said the secretary of state met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday for the first time since Moscow’s “special military operation” started just over a year ago.

Officials add that the brief encounter between the two representatives led to Blinken calling on Moscow to end the war in Eastern Europe and reverse its suspension of the New START nuclear treaty.

Russian news agencies report that Lavrov and Blinken spoke for less than 10 minutes and did not engage in any negotiations.

Josep Borrell, European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief said the global community needs to jointly condemn President Vladimir Putin’s administration for the ongoing war.

“Everybody who is abstaining in several different regions, they have to understand that we are facing something that breaks the possibility of having a world consensus,” said Borrell. - Reuters