Washington

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated that the Russia-Ukraine war get dragged on and claimed that President Vladimir Putin had not shown any interest in ending the conflict soon.

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Addressing the news conference in Washington on Thursday, marking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s historic visit to US, Blinken expressed hope that Putin initiates a speedy resolution.

"Fundamentally right now, Russia has shown no interest in meaningful diplomacy, in meaningfully engaging, to bring this war to an end," he said.

Blinken added that Kremlin could end the war immediately by withdrawing troops, but "in the absence of that, we have to see some meaningful evidence that Russia is prepared to actually negotiate a just and durable peace."

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"By just —one that doesn't simply ratify another country seizing by force the territory of another," he said.

The US official informed that he spoke virtually with foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies about ideas for a "just peace" proposed by Zelensky.

Blinken called Zelensky's ideas "a good start" and that any peace needed to be "just and durable" -- and that the United States would not impose its own solutions on Ukraine, reports AFP news agency.

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Earlier on Thursday, Putin said that he hopes the conflict  ends "and the sooner, the better."

China’s Covid situation

Blinken urged China to share information on its current Covid break and vowed to share US vaccines to tackle the surging caseload.

"It is very important for all countries, including China, to focus on people getting vaccinated, making testing and treatment available and, importantly, sharing information with the world about what they're experiencing," he told a news conference.

"It has implications not just for China, but for the entire world. So we would like to see that happen," Blinken said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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