Psaki: The war in Ukraine is not going the way Putin intended

The war in Ukraine, which Russia began on Feb. 24 this year, is clearly not going the way Putin planned, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing Thursday.

She said clear evidence of this is Vladimir Putin’s recent words that if Russia gets rid of “traitors,” including those in support of Ukraine, such, as Putin put it, “a natural and necessary self-cleansing of society” would only strengthen the country.

“There is a wave of courageous protests rolling through Russia, many citizens are publicly speaking out against the war in Ukraine, and Putin’s attempts to end this discontent, with freedom of the press and other media, with freedom to protest, are actually quite consistent with his style of government over the past few years.”

Asked about White House concerns about possible direct military or other assistance from China to Russia, which Secretary of State Anthony Blinken mentioned today, Jan Paskey said there are concerns.

“I won’t detail what the consequences of such a move by Beijing might be. President Biden will discuss it tomorrow in a phone call with Chinese President Xi, and will talk about it openly,” Psaki said. – President Biden attaches great importance to personal diplomacy at the leadership level, and they have many issues to discuss, including those not related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This conversation will give President Biden an opportunity to understand what President Xi’s position is.”