US accuses Vladimir Putin of using Israel war as a smokescreen

The US has accused Vladimir Putin of using the war between Israel and Hamas to distract the world from his invasion of Ukraine and to cosy up to enemies of the West.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said the Russian president was “taking advantage” of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that killed 1,400 people and triggered the invasion of Gaza.

“Putin is very much trying to take advantage of the Hamas attack on Israel in the hope that it will distract us,” he told a Senate hearing on funding for security issues.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has been warning his Western allies not to reduce their support for Ukraine while they throw their backing behind Israel.

At the same hearing, Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said this was the moment that Putin had been waiting for and that unless the West remained focused on Ukraine, Russia would seize more territory.

“If we pull the rug out from under them now, Putin will only get stronger and he will be successful in doing what he wants to do in acquiring his neighbour’s sovereign territory,” he said.

The warnings come as Russia continues to pour soldiers and tanks into battle around Avdiivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. The UK Ministry of Defence has said that it has already become the most significant battle of the year in Ukraine.

The Kremlin hosted the political wing of Hamas in Moscow last week and a delegation from Iran, a key ally in the war with Ukraine.

Putin was described as a “good friend” of Hamas by an official who said he admired his world view. 

Mr Blinken said that all this was playing into the Kremlin’s hands and that the West needed to remain resolute in its support for Ukraine and not “abandon ship”.

“We’ve seen very significant burden sharing [in Ukraine] that would almost certainly go away if we go away,” he said.

Russia has also condemned increased Israeli air strikes on Syria as “unacceptable” and warned the war could spread through the Middle East.