edited by: Shankhneel Sarkar
Last Update: February 17, 2023, 17:40 IST
Washington, United States
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned Ukraine against any attempt to reclaim the Crimean peninsula (Image: Reuters)
Blinken said any attempt on Ukraine could prolong the war and other experts fear it would be very difficult to evacuate the thousands of Russian troops stationed there
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Ukraine against retaking the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War. political man,
Blinken said this would be a “red line” for Russian President Vladimir Putin and could escalate the conflict. Blinken told the experts, according to a report Wirethat the US is not “actively encouraging” Kiev to reclaim the peninsula that Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
However, Blinken clarified that the decision to reclaim Crimea should be left to Ukraine and its government.
Blinken’s comments come shortly after a series of covert operations by Ukrainian forces using drones to hit Russian military targets on the Crimean peninsula. Pro-Russian officials in Crimea said these drones were later shot down over Sevastopol.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed on several occasions to recapture Russian-controlled territory at the southern tip of Ukraine.
However, the Biden administration has expressed reservations about Ukraine’s move to the peninsula and has instead focused on supporting Ukraine’s armed forces in the east of the country and thwarting fresh Russian offensive attempts.
This would hurt the plans of Zelensky, who had previously toyed with the idea of using US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems to attack heavily fortified Russian positions in Crimea. The range of these missiles is about 320 km.
The US has refrained from sending a long-range missile to Ukraine for fear that it could be used in a way that could escalate the war.
Mark Milley, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, also objected to Ukraine’s plan to recapture Crimea. He added that Ukrainian forces would find it “very difficult” to evacuate the thousands of Russian troops dug in defensive positions.
Experts talking to UK-based newspaper Wire Said that recapturing Crimea could be a war in itself and would require a large amount of artillery and heavy armour.
The report also said senior Pentagon officials told a briefing to the House Armed Services Committee that Ukraine would not be able to re-capture Crimea anytime soon.
The report also said that Ukraine’s military was told to focus on blocking access to the peninsula to mainland Russia by the Kerch Strait bridge that passes through Donbass and the Sevastopol naval base.
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