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WASHINGTON — The White House sharply rebutted Russia’s accusations Sunday that Ukraine is preparing to usage a soiled weaponry connected its ain territory and past blasted Moscow.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the National Security Council called Russia’s allegations of a imaginable mendacious emblem cognition by Ukraine “transparently false” and accused Moscow of making the assertion to laic the groundwork for its ain escalation of the war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has made the assertion of Ukraine’s perchance utilizing a soiled weaponry successful telephone calls with respective Western defence ministers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Shoigu is utilizing the calls to rotation “stories astir the alleged ‘dirty’ atomic bomb.”
Austin spoke with Shoigu for 30 minutes Sunday, a U.S. authoritative said. After they had not spoken for astir 5 months, it was the 2nd clip they had talked successful the past 48 hours. Austin called Shoigu connected Friday. The little readout said Austin emphasized the value of maintaining lines of communication.
“Secretary Austin rejected immoderate pretext for Russian escalation and reaffirmed the worth of continued connection amid Russia’s unlawful and unjustified warfare against Ukraine,” the Defense Department's property secretary, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, said successful a statement. Ryder said Shoigu besides requested a follow-up telephone telephone with Austin.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson likewise pushed backmost against Moscow's claims.
“We reject reports of Minister Shoigu’s transparently mendacious allegations that Ukraine is preparing to usage a soiled weaponry connected its ain territory,” Watson said successful a statement. “The satellite would spot done immoderate effort to usage this allegation arsenic a pretext for escalation.”
Also Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, according to Ned Price, State Department spokesperson.
Blinken told Kuleba that the United States rejects Shoigu’s mendacious claims that Ukraine is preparing to usage a soiled weaponry connected its ain territory and that “the satellite would spot done immoderate attempt by Russia to use this allegation arsenic a pretext for escalation,” Price said.
In a associated connection issued aboriginal Monday, Blinken was joined by his French and British counterparts successful criticizing Russia's claims.
"Earlier today, the defence ministers of each of our countries spoke to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu astatine his request. Our countries made wide that we each cull Russia’s transparently mendacious allegations that Ukraine is preparing to usage a soiled weaponry connected its ain territory," the connection said.
"The satellite would spot done immoderate effort to usage this allegation arsenic a pretext for escalation. We further cull immoderate pretext for escalation by Russia."
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces said Shoigu told his counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu, that the concern successful Ukraine was rapidly worsening and “trending towards uncontrollable escalation.”
The increasing fears of Russian escalation travel arsenic the Kremlin's forces conflict to clasp backmost counteroffensives by Kyiv's subject successful the eastbound and south.
Moscow-installed officials successful the confederate portion of Kherson person been evacuating civilians up of an expected Ukrainian propulsion to retake the strategically important determination capital.
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