1 year of war in Ukraine, 7 hours apart ‘speech war’
NYT “A proxy war between two Cold War warriors”
US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a “counter-speech” on the 21st (local time), three days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The confrontation between the free democracy camp led by the United States and the authoritarian camp centered on Russia and China is intensifying.
President Putin said in a State of the Union address in Moscow, Russia, that day, “The West is expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and is trying to cover us with that umbrella.” It is the use of force for the sake of it.” He announced the end of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), a nuclear control treaty between the United States and Russia.
US President Biden spoke in Warsaw, Poland the same evening. In a speech, President Biden stipulated that “this war (not a regional conflict) is a competition between democracy destroyers and supporters,” said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. President Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the day before, “We must fight for freedom no matter how long it takes.” The New York Times (NYT) of the United States said about the speeches of the two leaders, which were separated by 7 hours, “The sharply different worldviews were vividly revealed through a rare moment of screen splitting.” It became a proxy war,” he analyzed.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the outbreak and escalation of the war on the West in a State of the Union speech at the Moscow Parliament on the 21st (local time), three days before the first year of the war in Ukraine. He then declared, “I will stop participating in the ‘New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START · New Start)’”. It is interpreted as an attempt to put pressure on Western countries to support Ukraine at a time when there are observations that Russia will launch a major offensive this spring.
US President Joe BidenOn the same day, US President Joe Biden also stressed to the Western camp “an irreversible battle against the aggressors who want to destroy democracy” in a “counter speech” in Warsaw, Poland, at 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.
Russian President Vladimir PutinPresident Putin emphasized that “it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield” in a nearly two-hour State of the Union address to Congress that day. It is interpreted as a response to President Biden, who visited Ukraine the day before and said, “Putin’s war of conquest has failed.” At the beginning of each year, he gave a State of the Union address, but last year he did not give a State of the Union address because of the invasion of Ukraine.
“If the West deploys long-range missiles in Ukraine, we will push them away,” Putin said in a State of the Union address on the same day, adding, “Russia’s nuclear forces have been modernized and are ready for national defense.” hinted at the possibility of nuclear use. He expressed his dissatisfaction, saying, “The United States, France and Britain are aiming all their nuclear weapons at Russia.”
He went on to announce a suspension of participation in New Start, a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia that came into force in 2011, emphasizing that “if the United States tests nuclear weapons first, Russia needs to test nuclear weapons as well.” The New Start includes a proposal 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. As Russia rejected the New Start, the nuclear disarmament agreement between the two countries, which symbolized the end of the Cold War, was nullified.
President Biden, who made a surprise visit to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine 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. President Biden said in Ukraine the day before, “Democracy is alive and well. The world is with Ukraine,” he said.
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.”
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 that President Biden decided to go to Ukraine directly on the 17th, two days before the visit. 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 reaction,” suggesting that there was a fierce opposition from Russia.
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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.