Blinken to UN Security Council: Don’t Be Fooled by Calls for Unconditional Ceasefire in Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a Security Council meeting concerning the war in Ukraine at United Nations headquarters on February 24, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a Security Council meeting concerning the war in Ukraine at United Nations headquarters on February 24, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)
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Blinken to UN Security Council: Don’t Be Fooled by Calls for Unconditional Ceasefire in Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a Security Council meeting concerning the war in Ukraine at United Nations headquarters on February 24, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a Security Council meeting concerning the war in Ukraine at United Nations headquarters on February 24, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)

The UN Security Council should not be fooled by calls for a temporary or unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine and should not fall into the “false equivalency” of calling on both sides to stop fighting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the council on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on Friday.

Russia will use any pause in fighting to consolidate control of territory and replenish its forces, Blinken said after China called for a ceasefire as part of a position paper on the war.

"No member of this council should call for peace while supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine and on the UN Charter," Blinken said.



Gunman Kills 6 in Croatia Nursing Home Shooting

Police secure a crime scene in Daruvar, Croatia, July 22, 2024. Damir Spehar/PIXSELL/Handout via REUTERS
Police secure a crime scene in Daruvar, Croatia, July 22, 2024. Damir Spehar/PIXSELL/Handout via REUTERS
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Gunman Kills 6 in Croatia Nursing Home Shooting

Police secure a crime scene in Daruvar, Croatia, July 22, 2024. Damir Spehar/PIXSELL/Handout via REUTERS
Police secure a crime scene in Daruvar, Croatia, July 22, 2024. Damir Spehar/PIXSELL/Handout via REUTERS

A gunman entered a nursing home in northwestern Croatia on Monday shooting dead five people, including his mother, and injuring six others, a government minister said.
One of the wounded later died in hospital taking the death toll to six, while four remain in critical condition.
One of the victims was a nursing home employee, Marin Piletic, minister for labor, pension, family and social policy, told journalists.
"According to the information we have the mother of the killer had been in the nursing home for 10 years," Piletic said.
According to Reuters, authorities have given no motive for the attack.
Croatian media reported that the gunman, born in 1973, is a war veteran.
"We are shocked," Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters in Split.
"This is really a monstrous act of the murder of a group of people, of the mother and other very old people who happened to be there.... We condemn this crime."
The killer fled the scene, but was later arrested by the police, N1 news portal reported.