In Moscow, the secretary general of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres met this Tuesday (26) with the chancellor of Russia, Sergei Lavrov, and is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin.
It is the first time that the Portuguese has visited the country since the beginning of the Ukrainian War, more than two months ago. The choice to visit the invading country first, however, was deemed illogical by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While the UN leader continues on a diplomatic mission, the US government receives representatives from nearly 40 allied countries at a military base in Germany to renew efforts to send military aid to Ukraine.
The Washington-led meeting also seeks to send an even clearer message of how far the West is willing to go to confront Russia.
During the conversation with Lavrov, Guterres called for an urgent end to the Ukrainian War. “We are extremely interested in finding ways to create the conditions for effective dialogue, create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible, create the conditions for a peaceful solution.”
The Russian chancellor, for his part, said that Russia is committed to a diplomatic solution through negotiations with Ukraine. The day before, however, Lavrov criticized what he called Kiev’s lack of willingness to negotiate.
In an interview with Russian state broadcaster, the diplomat also said that he considers the risk of the conflict escalating to the point where nuclear weapons are used – in practice, World War III – is “serious, real” and should not be underestimated.
The US reacted this Tuesday to Lavrov’s speech. According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, the statement was bravado, a rhetorical device to escalate the conflict. In practice, however, Moscow would be weakened, Kirby said.
“They have the weakest armed forces. They are a weaker state now and they are isolating themselves even more. We want Russia not to be able to threaten its neighbors again in the future,” the spokesman said in an interview with US TV. .
Kirby’s speech echoes what US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday. “We want to see Russia weakened to the point where it can’t do the kind of thing it did in invading Ukraine. Moscow has already lost a lot of military capability, a lot of soldiers, and frankly we want them not to have the ability to quickly rebuild it.”
Austin, alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met with Zelensky in Kiev and showered Ukraine with praise for its “extraordinary and awe-inspiring” resistance to Moscow’s forces. The military went so far as to say that Kiev can win the war, as long as it has “the right equipment” and “the right support”.
That’s what the American says he wants to articulate this Tuesday at the meeting in Germany. Some of the main Western leaders, such as the US, UK and France, had been refusing to supply Kiev with attack weapons.
But the scenario begins to change. Germany announced on Tuesday the deployment of Gepard air defense tanks to Kiev. It is used equipment, but it marks a change in the tone of the government of Olaf Scholz, seen as hesitant until now.
During the Western military summit at the US base in Ramstein, western Germany, other countries are expected to make similar announcements.
