Munich Russia plans to attack Ukraine next week, including the populous capital Kiev, according to US President Joe Biden. Biden said at the White House on Friday that he was “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine.
The US government is speaking so openly regarding Russia’s plans to thwart Moscow’s efforts to attack Ukraine under a pretext, Biden said. If Russia were to go ahead with its plans, it would be responsible for a “catastrophic” and self-initiated war. Among other things, Russia is trying to use false information to create a pretext for an attack on Ukraine. So far, the US government has always emphasized that it does not know whether Putin made a decision to invade Ukraine.
The US President had communicated with allies by telephone in the evening. According to Germany, Western democracies consider the danger of a Russian attack on Ukraine to be “very real”. After Biden’s consultations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other heads of state and government, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit announced on Friday that it was agreed that Russia had to give a signal of de-escalation.
The US President also reiterated in the White House that evening: “It’s not too late to return to the negotiating table.” “I don’t think he’s remotely thinking of using nuclear weapons,” added Biden. “But he’s trying to convince the world that he can change the dynamics in Europe, which he can’t.”
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
According to the federal government, the central task now is to keep the window open for diplomacy. The latest Russian response to the US government should also be evaluated in this sense. The implementation of the Minsk agreements for eastern Ukraine must be continued in the Normandy format by Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia.
Western governments have once once more expressed “their continued solidarity and support” to Ukraine, Hebestreit said. At the same time, they reaffirmed their readiness to take very far-reaching measures once morest Russia in the event of further Russian aggression once morest Ukraine. In addition to Scholz and Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Presidents of Poland and Romania, the Canadian Prime Minister and EU and NATO leaders took part in the call.
situation increasingly tense
Asked regarding possible differences with the Europeans over sanctions in the event of an attack, Biden said it might be more rather than less. The phone call took place on a day when the situation in Ukraine had continued to deteriorate.
Russia, which has gathered more than 150,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border, also wants to conduct maneuvers with its nuclear forces on Saturday. According to the Defense Ministry, the exercise this Saturday is led by President Vladimir Putin. The aim is to test the strategic nuclear weapons for their reliability.
According to the government in Kiev, fighting has broken out once more in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, which are controlled by Russian separatists. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke of an alarming and sharp increase in shelling in eastern Ukraine. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also noted increased violations of the agreed ceasefire.
Because of the danger of a military escalation in eastern Ukraine, the Moscow-loyal separatists have asked civilians to flee to neighboring Russia. First, “women, children and elderly people” should be brought to safety, said the head of the Donetsk separatists, Denis Puschilin, in a speech published on Friday. “A temporary departure will save you and your relatives’ lives.”
The separatists accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of wanting to launch an offensive “in the near future”. Kiev has repeatedly denied accusations that it was preparing to attack. In addition, the allegations that Ukrainian soldiers would shell settlements are false.
More: You can read all the news regarding the Ukraine crisis in the news blog.
