WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2023) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke over the telephone with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and discussed developments in the ongoing counteroffensive against Russian forces as well as the recently concluded peace talks in Saudi Arabia, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday.
"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today via phone from Washington, D.C.� The two discussed developments in Ukraine's counteroffensive efforts, recent conversations about a just and durable peace in Ukraine held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and long-term security arrangements between the two countries," Miller said in a press release.
Kuleba said that he had urged Blinken during the prone call to facilitate the supply of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Kiev.
"In our call, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and I discussed further steps to broaden global support for the Peace Formula and solutions to expand grain exports. I thanked the US for all the assistance provided and stressed the need to enhance Ukraine's long-range capabilities by providing ATACMS," Kuleba said in a statement published by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
US media reported in late June that Washington was close to making the decision to supply Ukraine with ATACMS long-range missiles with a range of up to 190 miles, which can be fired from HIMARS launchers.
This past Friday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told Sputnik that there was no update on whether US President Joe Biden was going to approve sending ATACMS to Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia hosted peace talks on Ukraine in Jeddah over the weekend, having invited representatives from some 30 countries, but not Russia. The Jeddah meeting is a follow-up to a similar conference held in Denmark in June. The Copenhagen meeting failed to produce any joint statements.
On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian forces have lost over 43,000 soldiers on the line of contact since the start of its counteroffensive in June.�
