Brink on US reaction to possible expansion of annexation of Russian Federation: We hope to involve allies in raising price for Russians
Ms. Bridget Brink, the US ambassador to Ukraine, said that the United States is "closely monitoring" the preparation of the Russian Federation for the illegal annexation of the newly occupied territories of Ukraine, and such actions of the Russian Federation would be "outrageous, but not unexpected." Now the United States is trying to "raise the price" for Russia, if it goes for it.
She said this in an interview with Radio Svoboda, Censor.NET reports.
She said this in an interview with Radio Liberty, Censor.NET reports.
The journalist asked Brink how the US would react if Russia tried to annex the newly occupied territories, and whether this would lead to new and stronger sanctions against the Russian Federation.
"This is something we are closely following. This is something we believe needs to be answered. It is outrageous that Russia is trying to annex the territory of Ukraine. But this is not unexpected. We saw how it happened in Crimea in 2014, and they seem to be using the same technique," Brink said.
She emphasized that in Kherson Region and other territories currently temporarily occupied by Russia, Russian passports are being distributed, efforts are being made to introduce the Russian language in schools and administrations, and Russian puppets are being appointed to "positions".
"We think it's outrageous and inconsistent with international law. Our position is to both draw attention to it and make sure our allies and partners know about it, and then take action if Russia does decide to do it ", said Brink.
She noted that the United States will continue to impose sanctions against Russian puppets and take measures that will prevent such annexation from being recognized in the future.
Asked whether the US and its allies could take steps now to prevent annexation, Brink said: "I hope so."
She reminded that the White House has released intelligence on what the Russian Federation's plans for annexing territories might be. With such public discussions of this topic, according to her, the United States hopes to attract allies "to raise the price" for the Russians for the annexation attempts.
We will remind you that on July 20, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov, said that the "geography" of Russia's goals has allegedly expanded - and now the Russian Federation wants to capture not only Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but also Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and a number of other territories. Ukrainian intelligence, assessing Lavrov's words, said: Russia is preparing the ground for the annexation of the south of Ukraine. British intelligence also believes that the Russian Federation is preparing the ground for fake "referendums" in this way.
