"Putin has no interest in engaging in meaningful diplomacy with Ukraine" - Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this in an interview with the ABC News channel.

“Our purpose is simple. It's to stand with the Ukrainians, to make sure that their country remains independent ... and, ultimately, to have the strongest possible hand at negotiating if one emerges,” Blinken said. 

Answering the question that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also refused to negotiate with Vladimir Putin and is ready for a diplomatic settlement only with the next Russian president, Blinken emphasized that the Ukrainian leader still strives for diplomacy, unlike the Russian president.

“Well, Zelenskyy has been clear that diplomacy is going to have to bring this to an end at some point. But what we've seen thus far is no interest on the part of Putin in meaningful diplomacy,” the US Secretary of State said. 

According to him, at the same time, Putin resorts to irrational decisions and actions.

“It's hard to put yourself in someone else's mind. I think he's rational, but the decisions he's making - or maybe better put, his objectives - are not rational,” Blinken concluded. 

• The commander of the Terra intelligence unit Mykola Volokhov (Abdula) said that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has high hopes for a cold winter, which will allegedly contribute to the defeat of the Ukrainian military on the battlefield, but in reality the winter will force his army to retreat.