U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Thursday downplayed any internal tensions among the Ukrainian government’s allies over war weariness and assured that, regardless of their positions, they all agree on putting Kiev at the forefront of the decision-making process.
«What matters is what we do, and what we do is an exhibition of tremendous solidarity,» Sherman told a press conference ahead of the upcoming international conference on Ukraine that will begin next Tuesday in Paris to determine a plan for targeted assistance to the Ukrainian population in the face of the onset of winter.
«Everyone wants this conflict to end, and Ukraine more than anyone else. Of course we hear voices calling for the end of the conflict, but everyone, absolutely everyone, agrees that ‘Nothing about Ukraine, without Ukraine,» the undersecretary of state asserted.
«The decisions to be taken have to be related to Ukraine, a country whose territorial integrity has been undermined by a superpower,» she assured. «London, Rome, Paris, Prague… wherever I have been, I have been astonished by the determination displayed,» she reiterated.
Sherman acknowledged, however, the fatigue that the duration of the war is generating among the population, in part because of the economic impact on fuel prices and rising inflation. In response, the Undersecretary of State called for a «sacrifice» in view of the impact of the Russian invasion and the possible consequences it could entail if the other countries do not make an effort to respond.
«There is no doubt that the whole world has suffered the consequences of this,» the undersecretary lamented. «There are children who have gone from starving to dying from it,» Sherman added before placing all the responsibility for what happened on the shoulders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
«What Putin has done was to invade a sovereign country and try to destroy its people and everybody is suffering the consequences. I want this to end. The people of Ukraine want it to end. But people have to understand what is at stake. This is, above all, about Ukraine, to choose its own future, but we also have to show that one country cannot invade another with impunity, because then we will all be in danger,» he concluded in this regard.
