The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Ukraine: clear resurgence of tensions between the United States and Russia

2022-01-20T15:56:05.832Z


The day after statements by Joe Biden, who on Wednesday warned Russia of "heavy" human losses in the event of an incursion into


The situation is tense between the Americans and the Russians, and the risk of an escalation in Ukraine is growing.

While Russia has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers on the Ukrainian border, in the Donbass, which arouses fear among Westerners of an invasion, Joe Biden made a very commented exit on Wednesday during a conference of hurry.

The American president warned Russia of "heavy" human losses if it were to attack its neighbor.

The Kremlin responded to him, and announced naval exercises in January and February in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and Mediterranean, hours after the United States authorized the Baltic countries to send American weapons to the 'Ukraine.

VIDEO.

If Russia attacked Ukraine tomorrow, what would France's position be?

At a time when tension is mounting, Moscow and Washington must try again on Friday to defuse the threat of a new conflict in Ukraine during a face-to-face meeting in Geneva between the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Chronology of the last 24 hours.

Joe Biden threatens Russia

During a press conference at the White House, the President of the United States spoke of the tensions with Russia.

And he was very clear.

Russia will face "a disaster" if it invades Ukraine, he said, while believing that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin did not want a "large-scale war".

Joe Biden spoke of a situation that could "spin out of control".

The American president, who explained that Vladimir Putin was going to "test the West", however reached out to the Russians, in particular on their demands: Russia wants Ukraine never to join NATO and that Westerners do not deploy strategic weapons on Ukrainian territory.

“Destabilizing remarks”, regrets the Kremlin

The Russian response was quick.

The Kremlin on Thursday denounced US President Joe Biden's "destabilizing" remarks on Ukraine.

“The statements are repeated over and over again and do nothing to ease the current tensions.

Moreover, they can contribute to destabilizing the situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The Russians even believe that Joe Biden's words "may raise totally false hopes among the hotheads of some Ukrainian representatives (…) who may try to solve the problem of southeastern Ukraine by force".

US allows Baltic countries to send US weapons to Ukraine

Hours after Joe Biden's words, the United States sprang into action, approving Baltic states' requests to ship American-made weapons to Ukraine.

The United States "is accelerating the authorized transfers of equipment of American origin from other allies", thus specified a State Department official from Berlin, where the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken started talks on Ukraine with the Europeans.

While the exact quantities and types of weapons have not been specified, the Baltic countries concerned would be Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Naval exercises announced by Russia

The Russians announced on Thursday that they would conduct naval exercises in January and February in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and Mediterranean.

"In total, more than 140 warships and support ships, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 pieces of military equipment and around 10,000 military personnel are to take part," the Defense Ministry said, quoted by the agencies. Russian press.

According to the ministry, these exercises will take place both in "waters and seas adjacent to Russian territory" and in "operationally important ocean areas".

The goal?

“Practice naval, air and space forces to protect Russian national interests in the world's oceans and to counter military threats against Russia from the seas and oceans.

»

The European Union “ready” for “massive” financial sanctions

The world and Europe in particular are closely following the escalation of tensions between the two countries.

And the European Union said it was “ready” to respond to Russian intervention in Ukraine with “massive” economic and financial sanctions.

“We hope that an attack will not take place.

But if so, we are ready,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, during the virtual World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland).

The European Commission has thus been instructed by member states to work on the various economic and financial sanctions against Russia and the options will be discussed at the meeting of EU foreign ministers chaired in Brussels on Monday by the head of the European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on the two countries to negotiate, explaining that a Russian incursion would be “a disaster for the world”.

Ukrainian president hopes for 'de-escalation'

In a video, Volodymyr Zelenskyn spoke up and called for calm.

"I hope that our joint efforts, our talks with the Russian Federation will lead to a de-escalation on the border of Ukraine and guarantees from Russia for peace in the Donbass", underlined the Ukrainian President.

“Global security in Europe is impossible without the restoration of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he also said.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2022-01-20

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-12T16:14:56.501Z
News/Politics 2024-02-24T11:12:22.612Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.