U.S. does not encourage strikes on Russian soil but it’s Ukraine that decides, Blinken says

The U.S. government does not encourage Ukraine to hitting targets on Russian soil but it is ultimately up to Ukraine to decide on how it wages the war for its independence.

That’s according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke at a joint briefing with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“The United States is committed to helping ensure Ukraine winning this war. And I think we've shown that through the extraordinary support that we've provided and that we continue to provide,” Blinken said.

“We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine, and ultimately, Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it's going to conduct this war, a war it's conducting in defense of its freedom, of its sovereignty, of its territorial integrity,” the U.S. Secretary of State stressed.

He added that the U.S. would continue to support Ukraine by sending capabilities required to achieve battlefield success and win the war.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on Tuesday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to Kyiv, said the U.S. remains committed to ensuring Ukraine’s battlefield success.

President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that international partners should support retaliatory strikes on infrastructure on Russian soil.