The United States in December approved $200 million in support of Kiev for defense actions, the largest amount sent since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Vladimir Putin’s threats, was disclosed this Wednesday (19) by a senior US State Department official to the Reuters news agency.
The agent said the country is concerned about Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Kiev to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Chancellor Dmitro Kuleba.
The financial support is seen as yet another American attempt to take a stand in the conflict between Russia and NATO, the western military alliance. Moscow fears that the group will move even closer to its borders if Ukraine joins the organization. Today, the group already houses the Baltic States (Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia), among other countries that were aligned with the Soviet Union.
On Wednesday, Blinken reinforced the idea that Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine within a very short time. In 2014, amid pro-European protests, Putin ordered his troops to seize the Crimea region, which was part of the neighboring country but with historic and ethnic ties to Russia. At the time, Western countries announced sanctions against figures linked to the Kremlin.
Despite the war threats from Moscow, the US Secretary of State said that Washington will maintain, as long as possible, the diplomatic tone to resolve the conflict. In addition to providing financial and technical support to Ukraine, he again threatened Russia with sanctions if the invasion actually took place.
Next Friday (21), Blinken meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva. The American pledged “relentless diplomatic efforts to prevent further aggression and promote dialogue and peace”. The meeting is seen by analysts as one of the last to try to ease the situation, although both sides have shown themselves to be unyielding about their demands.
If, on the one hand, the Kremlin wants guarantees that NATO will not accept Ukraine as a member, on the other hand, there are no indications that the Americans and allies will reduce their troops in countries neighboring Russia.
“Short of a US surrender and the handing over of Ukraine to Russia, some sort of military option is almost inevitable now,” Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat and now a foreign policy analyst, told Reuters.
On at least one point the two sides agree: tensions in Ukraine are rising. About 100,000 Russian troops remain on the border, and Moscow has sent troops and military equipment. to the Belarus on Monday (17), for joint exercises that should start in February. “We know that there are plans to further increase this force in the very short term, and that gives President Putin the ability to quickly take more aggressive action against Ukraine,” Blinken said.
But he did not say how quickly Russia could move. Independent security analysts say they do not believe Moscow has so far assembled the necessary logistical and medical units for an immediate attack. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, military maneuvers and NATO aircraft flights were to blame for the heightened tension.
On Tuesday (18), also as part of diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the crisis, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met in Moscow with Lavrov, while Prime Minister Olaf Scholz met with the secretary-general of the NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.
Annalena said Germany could use Nord Stream 2, the new gas pipeline linking the country to Russia, as a political weapon to stop the Kremlin’s intentions. Lavrov, for his part, said that “attempts to politicize the project would be counterproductive”. Nord Stream 2 is the second branch of a mega-project started in the 2000s. It doubles the capacity to transport natural gas across the Baltic Sea, enabling Russia to divert supplies that are now mostly made through rival Ukraine and ally Belarus.
Currently, certification for the structure’s operation is suspended on technical grounds, according to the German government. As fears of conflict mount, the UK announced this week that it had started supplying anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. NATO, on the other hand, continues to try the diplomatic route. Stoltenberg said he had invited allies and Russia to more meetings to discuss ways to improve security in the region, as the last round ended with no progress.
With major powers moving to avoid a conflict that could have nuclear consequences, Ukraine finds itself worried about its future. Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a meeting with his American and Russian counterparts, which has not yet been set. His cabinet stressed that the country’s “life and death” are at stake.
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