Current:Home > MyBlinken assails Russian misinformation after hinting US may allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia -TradeWise
Blinken assails Russian misinformation after hinting US may allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia
View
Date:2025-04-15 22:11:13
PRAGUE (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday assailed Russian attempts to sow discord in democracies with misinformation after hinting the Biden administration may soon allow Ukraine to use American-supplied munitions to strike inside Russia.
In Prague for a NATO foreign ministers meeting, Blinken hit out at Moscow’s use of misinformation and disinformation, calling it a “poison” and signing an agreement with the Czech government to combat it. He also toured a Czech military base, where he saw armored vehicles that Prague is sending to Kyiv to help fight Russia’s invasion and received a briefing on a Czech initiative to supply Ukraine with a million rounds of ammunition by the end of the year.
“We know that a major front in the competition that we have, the adversarial relationship that we have, notably with Russia, is on the information front,” Blinken said.
He said the agreement with the Czechs — the 17th such accord the U.S. has signed with partner nations — would help “to effectively deal with misinformation and disinformation, which is a poison being injected into our democracies by our adversaries.”
“The more we’re able to do together both between our countries but also with other countries, the more effective we’re going to be exposing it and dealing with it,” Blinken told reporters at a signing ceremony with Czech Foreign Minister Minister Jan Lipavsky.
Lipavsky agreed, noting that Czech authorities had recently exposed a major Russian-backed misinformation campaign.
“We are facing confrontation between democracies and autocracies,” Lipavsky said. “The Kremlin has started targeting targeting democracies all around the world with cyber warfare, propaganda and influence operations and this danger simply cannot be underestimated any more.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and support for Ukrainian attempts to repel it will be a major focus of the NATO foreign minister meetings on Thursday and Friday — the alliance’s last major diplomatic gathering before a leaders’ summit in Washington in July to mark the 75th anniversary of its founding.
On Wednesday in Moldova, Blinken said that U.S. policy on how Ukraine deploys American weapons is constantly evolving, suggesting that Washington may rescind an unwritten prohibition on Ukraine’s use of them for attacks on Russian territory.
Although U.S. officials insist there is no formal ban, they have long made clear that they believe the use of American weapons to attack targets inside Russia could provoke an escalatory response from Moscow, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised.
That position appears to be being reconsidered, and Blinken noted that it was a “hallmark” of the Biden administration’s stance on Ukraine to “adapt and adjust” as needed. Blinken visited Kyiv earlier this month and heard a direct appeal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to use U.S. military assistance to strike positions in Russian from where attacks on Ukraine are launched.
“As the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of how it’s pursuing its aggression, escalation, we’ve adapted and adjusted too, and I’m confident we’ll continue to do that,” Blinken said at a news conference in Chisinau.
“At every step along the way, we’ve adapted and adjusted as necessary, and so that’s exactly what we’ll do going forward,” he said. “We’re always listening, we’re always learning, and we’re always making determinations about what’s necessary to make sure that Ukraine can effectively continue to defend itself, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that Western countries should not object if Ukraine needs to strike inside Russia to defend itself.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of Secretary of State Antony Blinken at https://apnews.com/hub/antony-blinken.
veryGood! (4342)
Related
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Russia's ruble drops to 14-month low after rebellion challenges Putin's leadership
- California Ranchers and Activists Face Off Over a Federal Plan to Cull a Beloved Tule Elk Herd
- 7 States Urge Pipeline Regulators to Pay Attention to Climate Change
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- California Ranchers and Activists Face Off Over a Federal Plan to Cull a Beloved Tule Elk Herd
- Transcript: David Martin and John Sullivan on Face the Nation, June 25, 2023
- January Jones Looks Unrecognizable After Debuting a Dramatic Pixie Cut
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- 2 Tennessee inmates who escaped jail through ceiling captured
Ranking
- 'Most Whopper
- World Bank Favors Fossil Fuel Projects in Developing Countries, Report Says
- American Climate Video: Hurricane Michael Intensified Faster Than Even Long-Time Residents Could Imagine
- Rachel Hollis Reflects on Unbelievably Intense 4 Months After Ex-Husband Dave Hollis' Death
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Cheer's Morgan Simianer Marries Stone Burleson
- The 23 Best College Graduation Gift Ideas for the Class of 2023
- An old drug offers a new way to stop STIs
Recommendation
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
ACLU Fears Protest Crackdowns, Surveillance Already Being Planned for Keystone XL
Renewable Energy Groups Push Back Against Rick Perry’s Controversial Grid Study
Skull found by California hunter in 1991 identified through DNA as remains of missing 4-year-old Derrick Burton
2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
American Climate Video: She Loved People, Adored Cats. And Her Brother Knew in His Heart She Hadn’t Survived the Fire
Transcript: Cindy McCain on Face the Nation, June 25, 2023
Matty Healy Leaves a Blank Space on Where He Stands With Taylor Swift