The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, will speak again on the phone this Saturday with his American counterparts, Joe Biden, and French, Emmanuel Macron, at a time when Washington fears an imminent offensive in the Ukraine.
The specter of war is causing many Western countries to advise their citizens to leave Ukraine. This Saturday, The United States ordered all its non-essential personnel from the Kiev embassy to leave the country due to the threat of a Russian invasion.
Shortly before, Russia increased international concern by admitting that it is reducing its diplomatic staff in Kiev, arguing that it is due to Ukrainian and Western “provocations”.
In the midst of this general alarm, diplomacy continues to activate.
In a phone call, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Saturday that diplomatic channels remained “open” to avoid a conflict in Ukraine, but that before, Moscow must proceed to a “de-escalation”.
An invasion of the Ukraine “would result in a determined, massive and united transatlantic response”, Blinken added.
For his part, Lavrov accused the United States of wanting to provoke a conflict in Ukraine with its accusations about an imminent Russian invasion, which he described as “propaganda”.
Why is Ukraine so important to Russia?
Biden will speak with Putin on Saturday after their respective chiefs of staff had a conversation on Friday. A call between Putin and Macron is also planned.
On Friday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the offensive is a “very, very real possibility,” but US intelligence does not know if the Russian president “has made a final decision” or not.
The American officials they do not rule out that Russia will make this decision even during the Beijing Olympics, which ends on February 20.
A call to stay calm
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that warnings about a Russian attack “causes panic”.
“We understand the risks. We understand that there are risks.” the president told reporters.
“Right now, the biggest enemy is panic in the country. And all this information is causing panic and not helping us.” the Ukrainian leader said, adding that if anyone has additional data on an invasion, they should hand it over.
From Moscow, the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zajárova, criticized the “hysteria” of Washington.
“The White House hysteria is more revealing than ever. The Anglo-Saxons need a war. At whatever price. Provocations, misinformation and threats are the favorite method to solve their own problems,” the spokeswoman said.
The US asks its citizens to leave Ukraine in the face of imminent Russian invasion, but the country calls the decision exaggerated
This Saturday, Russia began new naval maneuvers in the Black Sea to “defend the sea coast of the Crimean peninsula”, annexed in 2014, of potential threats.
“More than 30 ships of the Black Sea fleet they went to sea from Sevastopol and Novorossiisk, following the plan of the exercise”, the Defense Ministry said.
Russia is also carrying out these days maneuvers in Belarus, on the borders of the European Union and Ukraine.
For Western countries, all these exercises are particularly worrying because militarily encircle the territory of Ukraine.
unity of western countries
The diplomatic attempts of recent days have not made it possible to alleviate the crisis, which arose after the deployment of more than 100,000 Russian soldiers on the border with Ukraine several weeks ago.
The Pentagon will send an additional 3,000 US troops to Poland “in the coming days” to “reassure NATO allies.”
The White House highlighted the “remarkable” unity of western countries facing what he considers the most dangerous moment for Europe since the end of the Cold War, 30 years ago.
The Americans, who shared their intelligence analysis with their allies, outlined a dramatic scenario in the event of a Russian offensive. Probably “It would start with aerial bombardment and missile strikes that could obviously kill civilians,” Sullivan said, explaining that there would also be “a quick assault” on Kiev.
Oil prices rise after risk of Russian invasion of Ukraine
The Kremlin said on Friday that talks held a day earlier in Berlin between representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France They had given “no results”.
These meetings focused on the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has pitted Russian-backed separatists against the Ukrainian military. since 2014 and has left more than 14,000 dead.
Moscow has repeatedly denied that it wants to attack Ukraine, but it requires certain security guarantees, including that NATO does not admit Ukraine among its members, an unacceptable point for the West. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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