Russian President Vladimir Putin held a state-of-the-art address in Moscow on the 21st (local time), three days before the invasion of Ukraine, and argued that the responsibility for starting and escalating the war lies with the West. The Russian Foreign Ministry also summoned US Ambassador to Russia Lynn Tracy to demand that “Western troops and equipment be withdrawn from Ukraine.”
In particular, President Putin announced that he would suspend participation in the Nuclear Arms Control Treaty, New START, signed with the United States, saying, “If the United States conducts a nuclear test, we will do the same.” It is interpreted as a measure aimed at pacifying public opinion tired of the protracted war ahead of a major offensive this spring and putting pressure on the West, which supports Ukraine.
On the same day, US President Joe Biden also emphasized “an irreversible battle against the aggressors who want to destroy democracy” through a’counter speech’ in Warsaw, Poland, the forefront of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Analysts say that the two leaders, the two pillars of the new Cold War, poured out sharp remarks toward each other in a European city about 1,000 km away in order to solidify their victory in the confrontation between the liberal democracy camp and the authoritarian camp.
In a two-hour speech that day, President Putin insisted, “It is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield.” It is interpreted as a counter-response to President Biden, who visited the Ukrainian capital Kieu the day before and bluntly said, “Putin’s war of conquest has failed.” At the beginning of each year, he gave a state of the art speech to clarify the political direction, but last year he did not give a speech because of the invasion of Ukraine.
According to Reuters and others, President Putin repeatedly hinted at the possibility of using nuclear weapons, saying, “If the West deploys long-range missiles in Ukraine, we will push them away.” He expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “The nuclear weapons of the United States, France and Britain are all aimed at Russia.”
It also announced the suspension of participation in the New Start, which took effect in 2011. It contains content to reduce the number of nuclear warheads deployed by the US and Russia to less than 1,550 each and inspect each other’s nuclear facilities. Russia’s rejection of the New Start nullified the nuclear disarmament agreement between the two countries, which symbolized the end of the Cold War. President Putin also said that if Russia wants to return, they must first answer what to do with the nuclear arsenals of France and Britain.
On this day, he failed to suggest a concrete plan to reverse the unfavorable charter or end the war. He also said that the economy is holding up well despite Western sanctions, and that “the flow of money has not dried up.” Analysts are raised that he cared more about domestic public opinion than the outside world.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had summoned Ambassador Tracy. He also insisted to Ambassador Tracy that “all weapons and personnel including U.S. citizens are legitimate targets for a Russian attack.” It also ordered an impartial investigation into the explosion of a gas pipe in the Baltic Sea’Nord Stream’ in September last year. Recently, U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hirsch claimed that the U.S. deliberately planted explosives in Nord Stream to sabotage Russia and detonated them together with Norway.
President Biden, who made a surprise visit to Kiiu on the 20th, arrived in Warsaw on the 21st. Reuters reported that he had decided to meet with the leaders of the “Bucharest Nine,” which was formed after Russia’s forcible annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, including Polish President Andrzej Duda. Nine countries, including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, have one thing in common: they suffered oppression from the former Soviet Union.
The New York Times (NYT) of the United States said that Presidents Biden and President Putin, born in 1942 and 1952, respectively, are virtually fighting a direct war in Ukraine. President) came to the brink of direct war.”
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blincoln criticized Russia’s announcement on the 21st to suspend participation in New Start as “very regrettable and irresponsible.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the leading German daily newspaper Die Welt on the 20th, “World War III could break out if China provides lethal weapons to Russia,” and pressed for additional aid from the United States. It is interpreted as emphasizing that the United States must provide fighter jets to Ukraine given the possibility of China’s aid to Russia.
Various afterwords left by President Biden’s visit to Kiiu are also a hot topic. The US media analyzed that it is extremely unusual for an incumbent president to visit a ‘war zone’ where the US or allied forces do not control the situation.
The White House announced on the 17th that President Biden had decided to go to Ukraine himself. Concerned about his security, it was also said that he boarded ‘Air Force Two’, which he uses for domestic travel, instead of ‘Air Force One’, the presidential plane. The title of the schedule guide e-mail sent by the White House to two reporters accompanying the president was also ‘Guidelines for Golf Tournament’.
The White House said it had notified the Russian side of the incident a few hours before the president’s departure, fearing a clash with Russia. However, he said, “I will not disclose Russia’s response,” suggesting that there was a strong backlash.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.