U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke in Finland Friday about peace talks in Ukraine.
"The prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy and real peace is a stronger Ukraine," he said.
Blinken described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a catastrophic strategic failure for Moscow that had strengthened NATO, the European Union and Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials acknowledged their forces were responsible and claimed Russian ships were evacuating the port.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense said the incursions could be a Ukrainian strategy to disperse Russian forces before a counteroffensive.
Persons:
Antony Blinken, —, Blinken, Potemkin, Grigory Potemkin, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy, Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Washington, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Serhii Popko, Denis Pushilin, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Roman Starovoit, Alexander Bogomaz
Organizations:
Service, —, Kremlin, NATO, European Union, General's, Gov, Russia Legion, Air, Ministry of Defense
Locations:
Finland, Ukraine, United States, Russia, China, Moscow, Kyiv, Crimean, Sweden, Baltic, Beijing, Brazil, Western, Azov, Berdyansk, Russian, Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian, Ukraine's, Donetsk province, Russia's Belgorod, Belgorod, Kursk, Russia's Bryansk, Russia's, Smolensk, Belarus