Matthew Miller, US Department of State Spokesperson referred to the latest developments in and around Ukraine during his press briefing.
“President has made very clear that we will begin training the Ukrainian military to pilot F-16s, and we will work with our allies and partners on the provision of F-16s to Ukraine. I don’t have any announcements about when or how that will happen, or what countries they’ll come from. But it is a priority for us, and we will begin to implement that in the coming months.
And then with respect to the broader policy question, we have made very clear to the Ukrainians that we don’t enable or encourage attacks outside Ukrainians’ borders, but I do think it’s important to take a step back and remind everyone, and remind the world, that it – of course it is Russia that launched this war. It’s Russia that continues to launch attacks on civilians in Ukraine. It’s Russia that’s targeted schools and hospitals and civilian infrastructure. So, it is up to Ukraine to decide how they want to conduct their military operations, but it is Russia that has been the aggressor in this war", Miller said.
Referring to the Wagner group, Miller said, "We have been informed that Wagner is seeking to transit material acquisitions to aid Russia’s war through Mali and is willing to use false paperwork for these transactions. In fact, there are indications that Wagner has been attempting to purchase military systems from foreign suppliers, and route these weapons through Mali as a third party.
We have not seen, as of yet, that – any indications that these acquisitions have been finalized or executed, but we are monitoring the situation closely".
Miller touched upon Georgia-Russia direct flights issue as well. "We have been concerned about direct flights between Russia and Georgia resuming. It mean – it could mean that companies in Georgian airports could be at risk for sanctions. We – the entire Western community has distanced itself from this regime, and now is not the time to increase engagement with Russia", he said.
