US accuses Moscow of trying to ‘freeze’ Ukraine into submission

The United States has accused the Russia of wanting to “freeze” Ukraine into submission since it has failed to win on the battlefield.

Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure with missiles and explosive drones while Kyiv’s forces have advanced against Moscow’s troops in the country’s east and south.

On Friday after G7 foreign ministers met in Germany, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said: “President Putin seems to have decided that if he can’t seize Ukraine by force, he will try to freeze it into submission.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s energy network had left about 4.5 million people without power.

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The top diplomats from the world’s wealthiest nations agreed on a structure to funnel aid to Ukraine to replace infrastructure targeted by Russia after holding two days of talks in the German city of Münster.

US president Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met Mr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Friday to reaffirm US support to Ukraine. Mr Sullivan told a press conference in Kyiv that Ukraine had an “acute need for air defence in this critical moment”.

The Pentagon announced it would fund the refurbishment of T-72 tanks and Hawk surface-to-air missiles as part of a $400 million (€400 million) security assistance package for Ukraine, bringing its total security aid to more than $18.2 billion since February’s invasion.

Elsewhere, Russian president Vladimir Putin has said civilians still living in the Russian-annexed province of Kherson must be “evacuated” from the conflict zone, amid suggestions Russian forces may be preparing to abandon the west bank of the Dnipro river.

The Russian president’s comments came amid mounting speculation that Moscow would attempt to hold the city of Kherson itself – the largest urban area under Russian occupation. A 24-hour curfew has been imposed in Kherson city, which makes up part of the Ukrainian province Russia annexed in September.

The 300,000 troops Mr Putin conscripted as part of the mobilisation drive are providing “little additional offensive combat capability” as the Russian military is struggling to train them, UK intelligence has reported.

In its daily briefing, the UK Ministry of Defence said troops are being deployed with “little or no training”. This is partly due to a shortage of munitions and facilities and partly because many experienced officers and trainers are fighting in Ukraine, with many likely already dead, the ministry added.

Iran’s foreign minister has acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones but insisted the transfer came before Moscow’s war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones hitting Kyiv.

The comments by Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian come after months of confusing messages from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends the drones into Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets.

“We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war,” Mr Amirabdollahian told reporters after a meeting in Tehran.

Previously, Iranian officials had denied arming Russia in its war on Ukraine. – Agencies