Ukraine celebrated this Wednesday its “Day of Unity” in the face of the threat of Russian invasionat a time when the partial withdrawal of Moscow’s troops from the border fuels hope for a peaceful resolution of this crisis. The United States had marked February 16 in red, but the Ukrainians remained calm in the midst of the informative storm about an escalation that does not finish arriving. In any case, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, reiterated that his country will resist any eventual invasion. For its part, Russia announced that it will withdraw more troops from the border with Ukraineeven if both NATO and Washington they insisted that they see no signs of that reduction.
a national holiday
Zelenskian actor by profession until he came to power in 2019, used his ingenuity to scare away the specter of war and erase any shadow of panic from the heads of his fellow citizens. “They say that the 16th is the day of the invasion, so we will make it the day of unity”he said when establishing the national holiday by decree just two days ago.
In front of the Russian tricolor, Ukrainians hoisted in towns and citiesfrom the border with Poland to the Black Sea, the blue and yellow national flag. At the Kiev Olympics, several hundred people circled the stadium with a 200-meter-long national banner shouting: “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to your heroes!”
The Maidán square, scene in 2004 and 2014 of two democratic revolutions, was the heart of the day. “We want to show that we are not afraid”, commented Igor Smelianski, general director of Post in Ukraine, whose headquarters are located in the same square. Smelianski was convinced that “The more united the Ukrainians are, the more difficult it will be for those who want to attack.”
Zelensky opened the day with good wishes, but shortly after he took a plane to preside over the “Zametil-2022” military exercises that Ukraine launched last week throughout the national territory. The military showed him modern Western-supplied weaponry such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, Stinger surface-to-air rockets, and Turkish Bayraktar assault drones.. And it is that, despite the news from Moscow that part of the military units involved in maneuvers near the Ukrainian border are returning to their barracks, Zelensky does not stop believing it.
Western allies waiting
Western countries remain cautious in the face of the Russian announcement of withdrawal. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, indicated that if this scenario were confirmed, without doubt, it would be “a sign of relaxation.” On Thursday, the leaders of the European Union (EU) will meet in Brussels to discuss the situation on the Ukrainian border.
The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholzand the president of the United States, Joe Bidenthe demanded on Wednesday Russia to adopt “real de-escalation measures” to avoid conflict with Ukraine, and threatened Moscow with sanctions. In a telephone conversation, the US president and the German chancellor agreed that “Russia must take real de-escalation measures” and that “in the event of a new military aggression against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, Russia must expect extremely serious consequences”the German chancellery wrote in a statement.
British Prime Minister, Boris Johnsonand the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterresthey agreed that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would have “catastrophic” and “far-reaching” consequences, in a conversation they had this Wednesday. In a meeting scheduled to address the military escalation in eastern Europe, Johnson and Guterres stressed the “responsibility of states to fulfill their obligations under the United Nations Charter,” a Downing Street spokesman reported.
The United States keeps talking about the “Russian threat”
Biden He indicated Tuesday night that a Russian withdrawal “would be positive” but has yet to be verified. However, the Democratic president extended his hand to Moscow by declaring himself open to diplomacy, an announcement applauded by the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov. “That the president of the United States has also expressed his readiness for serious negotiations is a positive thing.”raised.
However, later the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinkassured that “The threat from Russia is there, it’s real.” Interviewed by the ABC channel, Blinken warned: “What we are seeing is not a significant withdrawal. On the contrary, we continue to see forces, in particular forces that would be the vanguard of a possible new aggression against Ukraine, that continue to be on the border.” .
Several dozen US paratroopers arrived at the Rzeszow airport in Poland on Wednesday., as part of a deployment aimed at reinforcing NATO in this part of Eastern Europe, due to tensions with Russia. Counting these reinforcements, the United States will have about ten thousand soldiers in Poland, a member country of the EU and NATO.
Russia ends military exercises
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that the units that concluded military exercises on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimeaannexed in 2014, return to their permanent headquarters. According to the press release, released by Russian agencies, a train with heavy weapons has already crossed the bridge that connects Crimea with mainland Russia.
Asked about Western media predictions that Russia was going to attack Ukraine in the early hours of Wednesday, the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitri Peskovreplied: “Honestly, andhe nature of how this Western hysteria unfolds shows that its culmination is surely a long way off. Remission does not occur immediately; We’ll have to arm ourselves with patience.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, was even more incisive than her Kremlin colleague and opted for mockery. “I ask the US and UK disinformation mediacomo Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Sun and others, that they publish the calendar of our invasions for the next year so that I can plan my vacations“The diplomat wrote on her Telegram channel.