Blinken says U.S. open to diplomacy on Ukraine, hard to see without de-escalation

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting with Costa Rica's Foreign Minister Rodolfo Solano Quiros, Panama's Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes and Dominican Republic's Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez, at the State Department in Washington, U.S., March 2, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/Pool

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the United States had made clear to Ukraine it will support Kyiv's efforts at diplomacy with Russia but it was to hard see a diplomatic path without a military de-escalation.

In a comment addressed to the Russian people, Blinken also told a news conference the United States knew many of them wanted nothing to do with Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.

(Reporting By Humeyra Pamuk, Rami Ayyub, Jonathan Landay and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Chris Reese)