In this image taken from video provided by the Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers use an American Javelin missile launcher during a military exercise in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on January 12. The United States and its NATO allies stepped up their military. aid to help Ukraine fend off Russian forces.
Press Service of the Krainian Ministry of Defense via AP
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Press Service of the Krainian Ministry of Defense via AP
In this image taken from video provided by the Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers use an American Javelin missile launcher during a military exercise in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on January 12. The United States and its NATO allies stepped up their military. aid to help Ukraine fend off Russian forces.
Press Service of the Krainian Ministry of Defense via AP
MOSCOW – As the United States and Europe increase military aid to Ukraine, Russian authorities have escalated warnings and criticisms, arguing that the aid not only promotes conflict but also increases the risk of direct confrontation between Russia and the NATO powers.
In one sense, Russia’s criticism of foreign military aid to Ukraine is not new. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited the delivery of Western weapons to Kyiv as part of his rationale for launching what he said was a limited “special military operation” in February.
However, as Russia’s stated goals in Ukraine have narrowed to the “liberation” of eastern Donbas, the Kremlin’s amplified rhetoric reflects an effort to build public consensus for the need for a political crisis. protracted – if not existent – war with the West.
“The tendency to pump weapons, including heavy weapons, into Ukraine and other countries, these are actions that threaten the security of the continent and cause instability.” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. It is the latest in a series of statements from Moscow that the conflict in Ukraine threatens to erupt into a broader conflict with the West.
Peskov was responding to a call by British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to ask Western countries to “double down” on their military support for the government in Kyiv.
“Heavy weapons, tanks, planes – dig into our inventory, ramp up production. We need to do all these things” for Ukraine, Truss said in a speech on Wednesday in London.
On Thursday, President Biden ask the National Assembly approved $33 billion in aid to Ukraine – more than double what Washington has pledged since the start of the conflict last February. Almost two thirds of that amount is for military aid.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a joint press conference with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres after their talks in Moscow, Tuesday.
Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia via AP
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a joint press conference with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres after their talks in Moscow, Tuesday.
Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia via AP
This week, Germany Congress also passed send anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine.
Since the start of the conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has patiently begged for heavier and more lethal weapons to thwart the Russian attack. While the Western allies accepted the call for aid, they were careful to insist that their forces would not join the war.
“We are not attacking Russia; we are helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression” Biden said in announcing its new aid push.
Meanwhile, the rhetoric from Russia is heating up day by day. On state television on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Western warning was in fact engaged in a “proxy war” that could lead to World War III. NATO shipments into Ukraine will be considered by the Russian military as a “legitimate target”, he said.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accuse the West masterminded a series of disputed attacks on Russian territory near the Ukrainian border.
“In the West, they openly call on Kyiv to attack Russia, including using weapons received from NATO countries. … I do not recommend testing our patience,” she said. said Thursday.
Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service announced on the same day discovered a US-Polish conspiracy to send forces into western Ukraine under the guise of a “peacekeeping squad.” Their goal, Naryshkin claimed, without providing evidence, was to take Ukrainian territory for their own.
Then there was Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, who told Russia’s official state newspaper Rossiskaya Gazeta on Tuesday that the United States – which failed to subdue Russia after the end of the Cold War – now intends to destroy it.
“America has long divided the world into vassals and enemies,” Patrushev said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also issued his own warnings. Intervention from outside powers in Ukraine is posing a “strategic threat” to Russia itself, he said on Wednesday – even as he bragged that Russia’s defenses were sufficiently defiant.
The West “should know that our retaliation will be lightning fast” Putin said in a speech to lawyers in St. Petersburg. “We have all the tools for this, things that no one else can boast about now. And we won’t brag about it, we’ll just use them if necessary. “
