The United States is fanning hysteria around a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, while at the same time pumping Kiev with modern weapons. This was stated by Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, commenting on the results of a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and the head of the White House, Joe Biden. The Kremlin believes that the militarization of the neighboring country is dangerous, as it could push the Ukrainian security forces to provocations against the Donbass or Crimea. Meanwhile, the American leader again threatened the Russian side with harsh sanctions, noting, however, that Washington still hopes for a diplomatic solution to the flaring up crisis.
Intensity of emotions
The current crisis around Ukraine is the most acute stage in relations between the collective West and Russia since 2014. For several months now, the United States and its allies have been saying that Russia could allegedly attack Ukraine in the near future. And if Bloomberg made a bet on February 15, then the head of the White House, Joe Biden, according to Politico, warned European colleagues that the invasion might happen a day later – on the 16th. At the same time, it is not ruled out overseas that aggression will begin with an air attack. However, Moscow persistently denies such accusations, referring to the hysteria of its Western partners.
Against this background, Vladimir Putin on February 12 held three telephone conversations at once. One of the most anticipated, of course, was the conversation with the President of the United States. It lasted a little over an hour. Initially, the conversation between the two presidents was scheduled for Monday, however, a sense of anxiety, apparently, did not allow the American side to wait for the start of a new week. As a result, the White House asked the Kremlin to move the conversation to an earlier date.
“Today’s conversation took place in an environment of unprecedented hysteria by US officials about Russia’s supposedly imminent invasion of Ukraine,” said Yury Ushakov, aide to the Russian president.
According to him, the Russian side does not understand why the United States is transmitting deliberately false information to the press about Russia’s plans to invade Ukraine, noted Yuri Ushakov. The situation around the movement of Russian troops on its territory “is simply brought to the point of absurdity,” he added. For example, the Washington Post previously reported, citing US officials and intelligence sources, that Russia had deployed about 70% of the forces and assets needed for a large-scale invasion to Ukraine’s borders. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side has repeatedly stated that over 100,000 Russian troops are concentrated near its borders.
– This is an information war, when the United States creates the image of an aggressive Russia. The presence of an enemy allows them to discipline NATO, seek agreement from European allies, – said in an interview with “Izvestia” the director of the Foundation for the Study of the United States. Franklin Roosevelt Yuri Rogulev.
The Kremlin is watching with concern how the United States, together with its allies, has been “pumping up the military muscles of Ukraine” in recent days, allocating significant resources to modernize its army, Yuri Ushakov noted. Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with an American colleague, stressed that the West thus encourages possible provocations of the Ukrainian security forces not only in relation to Donbass, but also against Crimea, Yury Ushakov said. In addition, the head of the Russian Federation, in a conversation with an American colleague, also “explained in detail the destructive line of the Ukrainian authorities to sabotage the Minsk agreements,” added the aide to the Russian president.
– The United States does not benefit from ending the conflict in Ukraine. I’m not saying that they want a real war, you can’t say that. But a full settlement is unprofitable for them, because the current state allows Russia, as they say, to be kept on a leash, – summed up Yuri Rogulev.
The United States has already sent 15 aircraft with military cargo to Ukraine. Washington does not intend to stop at this and plans to supply the Ukrainian side with about 90 more tons of ammunition and Javelin anti-missile systems. Some states, including Lithuania and Great Britain, even sent military instructors to Kiev. The North Atlantic Alliance is also strengthening its eastern flank. For example, 3,000 US troops will soon go to Poland. Prior to this, the United States relocated about 1.7 thousand soldiers to this country.
Sanctions and guarantees
Washington, however, still looks at the situation from a different perspective. The American leader warned the Russian president that the United States is ready to respond decisively if the Russian Federation takes aggressive actions against a neighboring state.
“President Biden made it clear to President Putin that while the United States remains ready for diplomatic engagement in full coordination with our allies and partners, we are equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said in a telephone conversation.
Yuri Ushakov confirmed that Joe Biden did indeed mention possible tough anti-Russian sanctions in the conversation. However, this was not the central topic of the conversation between the two presidents., he noted. Joe Biden also expressed to Vladimir Putin his views on the security guarantees that Moscow wants to obtain in legal form from the United States and NATO. The proposals of the American side, however, do not take into account the key concerns of Russia, as Vladimir Putin said in a conversation with the White House chief.
Back in December last year, draft agreements were submitted to Washington and Brussels, which reflect the main Russian demands: further non-expansion of the bloc to the east at the expense of the post-Soviet countries, the refusal to deploy strike weapons systems near Russian borders, as well as the return of the bloc’s military infrastructure in Europe to the state of 1997, that is, before the first wave of expansion of the military-political bloc. The United States and NATO have recently responded to Russian proposals. Now Russia is preparing its answer, which will soon be handed over to the United States and the military-political bloc.
On February 12, Vladimir Putin also had a telephone conversation with French leader Emmanuel Macron. The interview took 1 hour and 40 minutes. Macron came to Moscow on February 7 with a plan to de-escalate the situation. It is still unknown what exactly the initiative of Paris is, but the President of France has recently been showing particular diplomatic activity. Therefore, it is not surprising that after a face-to-face meeting in the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin, he immediately went to Kiev for a conversation with President Vladimir Zelensky. Vladimir Putin also had a talk with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, with whom he discussed the situation around the reaction of the United States and NATO to Russian proposals for the development of long-term international legal guarantees of Russia’s security.
Despite diplomatic efforts, it is too early to talk about any positive developments. In the context of the current escalation, more than 20 countries have already called on their citizens to leave Ukraine. Among them are the USA, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Latvia, Japan, Montenegro and others. Some countries even decided to evacuate some of their diplomats. This applies, for example, to the USA, Great Britain, Italy and Israel. The US State Department also acknowledged that it was “downsizing” secret equipment and documentation from its embassy in Kiev due to the unpredictability of the situation. Meanwhile, the mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko approved a plan for the evacuation of the city’s population in the event of a war.
Russia did not stand aside and also decided on some optimization of the staff of Russian foreign missions in Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that such a decision was made due to fear of possible provocations from Kiev or third countries.
– The whole situation is sucked from the finger, – says the Americanist Alexander Domrin. – At first they predicted an invasion on the 15th, then on the 16th. Mr. Zelensky later stated that the Ukrainian side had no information about the planned invasion. Nevertheless, a provocation that could lead to sad consequences not only for the entire region, but also for the world, cannot be ruled out. Especially now, when we periodically hear reports of shelling on the line of contact.
It is worth noting that on February 15, the new Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Olaf Scholz, will pay an official visit to Moscow. And it is already obvious that the situation around Ukraine and Russia’s security guarantees will become the main topic of negotiations.