Ukraine began testing on Friday (4) weapons received from the United States to try to discourage a possible Russian invasion, a fear exacerbated by the military mobilization on its borders promoted by the government of Vladimir Putin.
The maneuvers took place at the Iavoriv base in the west of the country, far from areas occupied by pro-Russian rebels since 2014 in the east. Anti-tank missiles, rocket launchers and other weapons from the $200 million package provided by the US to Kiev in recent weeks have been tested.
They are all weapons that aim to stop armored columns. Putin has deployed at least three groups of tanks on Ukraine’s eastern border, apart from offensive material and troops in Crimea, which he also annexed in 2014 and 30,000 men in military maneuvers to the north, in the Belarusian allied dictatorship.
Russia says it doesn’t want to invade Ukraine, and common sense suggests that even an attempt to take over the country is too costly. But the action eight years ago is on the West’s mind, though Putin’s military pressure seems more like a way to extract concessions.
The deadlock over Kremlin demands to prevent Kiev from being absorbed into NATO, rejected by the US and the military alliance it commands, remains unresolved. Behind one, French President Emmanuel Macron will go to Moscow to meet Putin on Monday (7) and, the next day, to Kiev to speak with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In the diplomatic field, the Russian president reaped an expected victory on Friday when he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who gave him his full support on the Ukraine issue.
In Moscow, the Kremlin rejected an unproven suggestion made by the United States the day before that the Russians planned to put together a fake video of a simulated Ukrainian attack on civilians in separatist areas to justify an invasion.
There was also a response to an accusation coming from South America. Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said that there was Russian support for the mobilization of Venezuelan forces on the border with his country. Russia is an ally of the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.
For the Kremlin, the speech, also without support of evidence, was irresponsible and caused perplexity. The continent’s involvement in the crisis had been hinted at in January, when one of the Russian vice-chancellors did not deny the idea of sending troops and weapons to Venezuela and Cuba in retaliation for supplying Western weapons to Ukraine.
Rhetoric aside, European skies had a busy week due to the crisis. There were two intercepts of Russian bombers and radar planes near the UK on Tuesday and Wednesday, and on Friday, four Russian fighter jets escorting a Tu-154 transport plane were intercepted near Norway by both Norwegian and US planes.
No incidents, which occur on a weekly basis, resulted in major attrition or invasion of NATO airspace.
Source: Folha
