Blinken presses Russia to pull troops on solidarity trip to Ukraine

A Ukrainian serviceman walks in a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near the town of Krasnogorivka in the Donetsk region on April 23, 2021 AFP/Anatolii STEPANOVKIEV: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday demanded that Russia end its"aggressive" actions towards Ukraine, warning on a solidarity visit to Kiev that the giant neighbour has yet to withdraw most forces from a recent buildup.

Zelensky said that Russia was still flexing its muscle on the Black Sea and that it had only removed 3,000 to 3,500 troops from Crimea. With Blinken in Kiev, the Ukrainian military said that one soldier was killed and another injured from shelling in Donetsk, a breakaway area in the eastern Donbas region.He also welcomed US support but said that Ukraine"desperately" needed more.

Biden in his first three months in office has sought to toughen US resolve against Russia after his predecessor Donald Trump's flirtation with President Vladimir Putin. Ahead of Blinken's trip, the State Department sharply criticised Ukraine for removing the head of state energy company Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolev, who had reduced Ukraine's dependence on Russian gas deliveries and introduced reforms that improved the company's public image.

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