Jake Sullivan spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday demanding Moscow stop targeting civilians and warning against the use of chemical or biological weapons as President Vladimir Putin continues his 20th invasion of Ukraine.
Biden’s national security adviser spoke to Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was addressing Congress immediately after Russian troops shot dead 10 Ukrainian civilians waiting in line for bread.
‘Mr. Sullivan told General Patrushev that if Russia is serious about diplomacy, then Moscow must stop attacking Ukrainian cities and towns,” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said in the announcement of Sullivan’s telephone conversation with Patrushev.
The United States and its Western allies have imposed devastating economic sanctions on Russia that have severely devalued the ruble and left the country and its people in economic disarray. However, these containment measures have not stopped Putin from his full-scale attack.
On Wednesday, Zelenskiy showed Congress a video showing explosions in Ukraine that reduced infrastructure to rubble and claimed the lives of thousands of civilians.
‘Mr. Sullivan also warned General Patrushev of the consequences of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine,” Horne wrote of the National Security Adviser’s call on Wednesday.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Russia that if they want to try their hand at diplomacy, they need to stop targeting civilians and bombing Ukrainian cities. Pictured: a building heavily damaged by Russian shelling in Berdichev, Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, on the 20th day of the invasion Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
In a conversation with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Sullivan said that “if Russia is serious about diplomacy, then Moscow should stop attacking Ukrainian cities and towns.”
Zelenskiy delivered an address to Congress on Wednesday (pictured) in which he said Europe needed a new alliance outside of NATO that would prevent future attacks in Europe and stop Putin’s intimidation in the region.
The latest warning came after Russia claimed as justification for the invasion that the US was funding biolabs in Ukraine designed to develop biological weapons, including the Black Death, anthrax and rabbit fever. China supported these claims.
The US called it just a “ridiculous” attempt at “disinformation”.
The text of Sullivan’s phone call reaffirms that the United States demonstrated to Russia “the firm and clear opposition of the United States to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”
‘Mr. Sullivan made clear the commitment of the United States to continue to place the costs on Russia, to support the defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank in full coordination with our allies and partners at all times.”
This week, Russia tried to strike a deal with Ukraine to make the former Soviet bloc country “neutral” like Sweden or Austria after several rounds of peace talks failed to quell violence and bloodshed in Eastern Europe.
Moscow is reportedly demanding that Ukraine refrain from joining any military alliance or hosting foreign military bases on its territory as conditions for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops that have been in the country since February 24, 2022.
Russia continues to strike at Ukrainian citizens and their homes. Here, a firefighter puts out a fire in Kharkiv on Wednesday after Russian shelling.
Ukraine has begged to be admitted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance, and Zelenskiy recently admitted that his country will have to realize that this will never happen.
However, during his speech on Wednesday, he suggested that he “has a dream” of creating a new military alliance for “peace” in Europe amid fears that Russia might want to reclaim Soviet-era territories.
“I have a dream… I have a need. I need to protect our sky,” Zelensky said, citing civil rights leader Mateen Luther King Jr.
“I need your decision,” he continued, “just like you feel when you say, ‘I have a dream.’
He said the new alliance would be aimed at preventing future terrorist attacks in Europe and stopping Putin’s intimidation in the region.
Kyiv has said it will not make a deal with Moscow unless there are security guarantees provided by “international partners” who agree to stand up for Ukraine in the event of a second attack on it.
The footage, published by the Ukrainian website Public and confirmed by the US embassy in Kyiv, shows the lifeless bodies of ten people sprawled on the street after a cold-blooded execution in line for bread.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Mykhailo Podoliak, said the international community could not be allowed to “stand by if Ukraine is attacked, as is happening today” if hostilities resume.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed on Wednesday that neutrality is central and Moscow and Kyiv are “close to agreeing” on the wording of the agreement as a 15-point peace plan appears to be under discussion.
The plan includes “restrictions” on Ukraine’s armed forces in exchange for Russia’s withdrawal from areas captured since the start of the war on February 24, including along the Black Sea coast in the south, as well as on Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders.
But it is unclear what will happen to Crimea, which Russia insists must be recognized as part of its territory, and Donetsk and Luhansk, which the Kremlin says must be recognized as independent.
Putin is pushing for all of Donetsk and Luhansk, known as Donbass, to secede from Ukraine, not just the parts occupied by pro-Moscow rebel forces prior to the outbreak of hostilities. It is not clear whether Kyiv will agree to such terms.