U.S. did not encourage or enable Kyiv to strike within Russia, Blinken says

The United States has not encouraged or enabled Ukraine to carry out attacks inside Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, after drone strikes targeted Russian military airfields this week.

“We have neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia,” Blinken told reporters at an event with Australian ministers in Washington on Tuesday, emphasizing that the United States has provided equipment to Kyiv for defensive purposes only. He also noted that Ukrainian civilians are coming under attack regularly by Russian forces, as is Ukrainian’s energy grid as the winter sets in.