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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)
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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.

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Scores Killed in Clashes between Somali Forces, al Shabaab

A woman walks past debris and destruction at a cafe in Mogadishu on July 15, 2024 following a car bomb blast on July 14, 2024. (Photo by Hassan Ali ELMI / AFP)
A woman walks past debris and destruction at a cafe in Mogadishu on July 15, 2024 following a car bomb blast on July 14, 2024. (Photo by Hassan Ali ELMI / AFP)
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Scores Killed in Clashes between Somali Forces, al Shabaab

A woman walks past debris and destruction at a cafe in Mogadishu on July 15, 2024 following a car bomb blast on July 14, 2024. (Photo by Hassan Ali ELMI / AFP)
A woman walks past debris and destruction at a cafe in Mogadishu on July 15, 2024 following a car bomb blast on July 14, 2024. (Photo by Hassan Ali ELMI / AFP)

Dozens of fighters were killed in clashes on Monday in the southern tip of Somalia when al Shabaab militants tried to overrun three army bases, officials and the insurgent group said.
A local security official said government forces repulsed the attacks and safely detonated four car bombs around 80 km southwest of the port city of Kismayo in Jubbaland state.
Videos posted by Jubbaland officials on social media showed at least 35 bodies in a mix of military fatigues near the village of Buulo-Xaaji.
"We thank the federal and Jubbaland forces who killed over 80 al Shabaab fighters and took their weapons," the government said in a statement on the state-owned Somalia National News Agency (SONNA).
The government and al Shabaab often provide wildly differing accounts of the casualties on each side.
Farah Hussein, a military official, said five soldiers were killed.
"We got the information that al Shabaab was coming, we deserted the three bases and then encircled their fighters, killing dozens of them. I counted 30 dead al Shabaab and I could see even more bodies lying ahead of me," Hussein told Reuters.
Al Shabaab said on an affiliated radio station that it had stormed the bases and killed dozens of soldiers.
The area near the Kenyan border, in the traditional heartland of al Shabaab's territory, was captured by government forces three months ago.