KYIV: Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured him in a phone call that Washington still backed Kyiv’s effort to win the war with Russia and rejected attempts to cast doubt on its military capacity.
The minister, Dmytro Kuleba, made the comment after a recent Washington Post report detailed a downbeat assessment by US intelligence officials of Kyiv’s potential to retake significant portions of Russian-occupied territory.
“During our call today, (Blinken) reaffirmed the ironclad US support and vehemently rejected any attempts to cast doubt on Ukraine’s capacity to win on the battlefield,” he tweeted.
“The US remains Ukraine’s trustworthy partner, focused on advancing our victory and securing a just peace.”
Ukraine’s military is widely expected to mount a counteroffensive in coming weeks against Russian forces.
Ukraine says Blinken reaffirmed ‘ironclad’ US support in phone call
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Ukraine says Blinken reaffirmed ‘ironclad’ US support in phone call
- The US remains Ukraine's trustworthy partner, focused on advancing our victory and securing a just peace, said Ukraine's foreign minister
Five miners trapped deep underground after mudslide floods South African diamond mine
- The miners have been trapped since the early hours of Tuesday, according to a labor alliance
- The mine is in the central city of Kimberley, which is renowned for its diamond mines
JOHANNESBURG: Five miners were trapped deep underground at a South African diamond mine after a mudslide flooded a shaft they were working in, mine officials and a labor union said Thursday.
The miners have been trapped since the early hours of Tuesday, according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions — an alliance of labor unions that includes the main mineworkers union. The congress said the miners were thought to be trapped around 800 meters (half a mile) underground.
Ekapa Mining General Manager Howard Marsden, whose company operates the mine, told national broadcaster SABC on Wednesday that rescuers were pumping water out of the shaft while a separate team was trying to drill a hole to where the miners were believed to be trapped to try to establish communication with them “or any proof of life.”
The mine is in the central city of Kimberley, which is renowned for its diamond mines and was at the heart of the global industry after diamonds were discovered in the area in the late 1800s.
The Minerals Council of South Africa said this month in its annual safety report that 41 miners died in mining accidents in South Africa last year, a record low and down from hundreds a year in the 1990s and early 2000s.
South Africa is among the world’s biggest producers of diamonds and gold, and the top producer of platinum.
