Blinken holds talks with Ruto to convince Kenya to take a stand Russia-Ukraine war

NAIROBI - Kenya’s President William Ruto on Monday held talks with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken where the Russia-Ukraine war was the center stage of the discussion.

The US has been trying to convince Kenya to take a stand on the ongoing conflict but all these efforts seem to have failed.

Last month US president hosted a dinner in New York after the UN General Assembly event for African heads of state were in attendance and the leader of the ‘Free World’ tried seriously to persuade the continent to condemn Russia for attacking Ukraine.

But all these efforts have failed and infant, recently President Ruto did reveal in an interview with BCC said that he will be much more willing to purchase Russian oil to help stabilize the local fuel prices.

Fertilizer commodity was also part of the discussion as the Kenyan government seeks to supply affordable fertilizer commodity to farmers, amid the biting drought that has affected several counties.

The US State Department spokesperson Ned Price added that the two also discussed the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia.

Despite Kenya supporting a resolution by the United Nations Security Council that denounced Russia’s referendums in Ukraine during the UN Assembly, the country has not yet come out publicly to condemn Russia in the Ukraine war.

Blinken went ahead to express appreciation for Kenya’s support for the UN Security Council resolution on Russia’s referendums in Ukraine and Kenya’s commitment to upholding international law.

This comes as Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that described its attempts to unlawfully annex four regions of Ukraine earlier as a threat to international peace and security.

The draft described the so-called referendums held by Russia in the four regions of Ukraine which Moscow now regards as sovereign territory (Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya) as illegal and an attempt to modify Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate reversal of the decision, terming it a violation of international law. "The Charter is clear. Any annexation of a State’s territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the UN Charter," Guterres said.

The draft resolution, circulated by the United States and Albania, was supported by ten of the fifteen members of the Council, with Russia voting against it. Four members abstained, Brazil, China, Gabon, and India.

GAROWE ONLINE