The United States believes that Ukraine can win the war once morest Russia if it has the “proper equipment”said the Pentagon chief, Lloyd Austinfollowing a historic trip to kyiv with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Russia declared 40 German diplomats persona non grata on Monday in response to a similar measure adopted by Berlin on April 4, and the chancellor Sergei Lavrov assured that his country remains open to negotiating with Ukraine to avoid the “real” danger of a Third World War. For his part, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, expressed to the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his support for the mediation that Ankara is carrying out to try to stop the conflict.
“They are convinced that they can win”
“The first thing to win is to believe that you can win. And they are convinced that they can win,” Austin told reporters following he and Blinken met with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. “They can win if they have good equipment and the right support”stressed the US Secretary of Defense.
After the discussions, Austin said the United States expects Russia’s military capability to be weakened “to the point where it can’t do the kinds of things it has done by invading Ukraine.” Austin and Blinken specifically announced that US diplomats this week to begin a phased return to Ukraine and an additional $700 million in military aid.
Zelensky has been asking Western countries for months for heavy weapons, including artillery and fighter jets, saying Ukrainian forces might turn the tide of the war with more firepower. The calls seem to echo: several NATO countries pledged in recent days to provide heavy weapons and equipment to Ukrainedespite Moscow’s protest.
Russia expels 40 German diplomats
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States and its allies of trying to “split Russian society and destroy Russia from within” with a battery of “unprecedented sanctions.” In parallel, an official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “the German ambassador was given a note on the declaration of ‘persona non grata’ to 40 members of the German diplomatic representations in Russia.”
The German ambassador, Geza Andreas von Geyr, was told Moscow’s “strong protest” over the “openly hostile” decision to expel 40 Russian diplomats. According to the Foreign Ministry, this step by the German authorities “is motivated by an absolutely false statement” that the Russian diplomats “had the objective of undermining the freedom of Germany” and the “cohesion of German society”, as well as by ” speculation regarding what is happening in Ukraine.
The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrovassured this Monday that his country will continue peace negotiations with Ukraine but accused kyiv of “appearing” to carry them out, and warned of the “real” danger of a Third World War. “Goodwill has limits. And if it is not reciprocal, it does not contribute to the negotiation process,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Guterres backs Turkish mediation
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterrescoincided with the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoganin the need for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, on a scale prior to his meetings this Tuesday with President Putin, and then with Zelensky. Although there was no meeting with the media following the meeting, the United Nations reported that the common goal of both leaders is “to end the war as soon as possible and create the conditions to end the suffering of civilians.”
Guterres and Erdogan also stressed the “urgent need” for “effective access” through humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians and provide aid to communities affected by the conflict, always according to the UN version. The Turkish government has so far led the main mediation effort between Russia and Ukrainewith several meetings between the two parties in which a possible peace plan was discussed, but right now the negotiations remain frozen.
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