Blinken Claims US Has Not Encouraged Ukraine to Strike Inside Russia, Kiev Makes Own Decisions

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The United States has not encouraged or enabled Ukrainian attacks inside Russia, but it is up to Kiev to make their own decisions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

"We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine. But ultimately, Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it's going to conduct this war … We will continue to back Ukraine with the equipment that it needs to succeed, that it needs to win," Blinken said during a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, in Kiev.

Ukraine has been sending drones and missiles into Russia almost daily since it launched its counteroffensive in early June 2023. The United Nations said in August last year, following a botched drone strike on Moscow, that it did not want to see any targeting of civilian infrastructure.

Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian territory, emphasized that Kiev continues terrorist activities, but that the Russian military is on alert and doing everything necessary.