The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, accused the Russian government on Sunday of using winter as a weapon in the war in Ukraine and accused it of attacking the infrastructure and energy sources of citizens in the European country. .
In an interview with CBS on the Face The Nation program, Blinken assured that Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected attempts at dialogue to get out of the conflict and, instead, has intensified his offensive.
“He has doubled down on everything: mobilizing more force, annexing territory in Ukraine and now trying to weaponize winter,” the secretary of state said.
Blinken stressed that because Russia “has not been able to win on the battlefield” Putin’s government is now attacking Ukrainian civilians “by going against their energy infrastructure, trying to leave them without electricity and without heating.”
Blinken’s comments come a day after the US Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, assured that the conflict in Ukraine will subside during the winter months, with the parties taking time to reconstitute and rearm for a new offensive in spring, according to US media.
“Honestly we see that there is already a slower pace in the conflict,” Haines said at a national defense forum in California.
The official also said that Russia is using up its munitions much faster than they can replace it, so Moscow is seeking military support from other countries, including North Korea.
“We think they’re not able to produce what they’re spending in-house at this point, so it’s going to be a challenge,” Haines said.
The Russian government received a blow to its finances this Friday, after the G7 countries, the European Union and Australia agreed last Friday to put a ceiling of 60 dollars on the barrel of Russian crude transported by sea, which they hope will limit the revenue that they are using to finance the offensive against Ukraine.