US, allies agree to arm Kyiv to fend off Russia
They shrugged off Russia’s warning of a ‘serious’ risk of nuclear war; US secy of state says Putin is not serious about Ukraine diplomacy
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, GERMANY:
The US and its allies vowed new packages of ever heavier weapons for Ukraine during a meeting on Tuesday at a German air base, brushing off a threat from Moscow that their support for Kyiv could lead to nuclear war.
US officials have switched emphasis this week from speaking mainly about helping Ukraine defend itself to bolder talk of a Ukrainian victory that would weaken Russia’s ability to threaten its neighbours.
Meanwhile, the powerful secretary of Russia’s security council said Western and Ukrainian government policy was leading to the breakup of Ukraine, and he accused Washington of seeking to instil in Ukrainians hatred for everything Russian. Nato allies have lately approved shipments of hundreds of millions of dollars in arms.
“Nations from around the world stand united in our resolve to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s imperial aggression,” defence secretary Lloyd Austin said, welcoming
officials from more than 40 countries to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, headquarters of US air power in Europe. “Ukraine clearly believes that it can win, and so does everyone here.”
In a notable shift, Germany, where the government had come under pressure after refusing Ukrainian pleas for heavy weapons, announced it would now send “Gepard” light tanks with anti-aircraft guns.
US officials, speaking on condition
of anonymity, assess that Russia will rely heavily on artillery strikes to pound Ukrainian positions while moving in ground forces from several directions to try to envelop and wipe out a significant chunk of Ukraine’s military.
War by proxy
In a marked escalation of Russian rhetoric, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was asked on state TV late on Monday about the prospect of World
War Three and whether the current situation could be compared to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis that nearly caused nuclear war.
“The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it,” Lavrov said, according to the ministry’s transcript of the interview. “Nato, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby decried what he called Lavrov’s “escalatory rhetoric”.
“It’s obviously unhelpful, not constructive, and certainly is not indicative of what a responsible (world power) ought to be doing in the public sphere,” Kirby said. “A nuclear war cannot be won and it shouldn’t be fought. There’s no reason for the current conflict in Ukraine to get to that level at all.”
Mark Milley, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, told reporters while flying to Tuesday’s meeting that the next several weeks in Ukraine would be “very, very critical”.
“They need continued support in order to be successful on the battlefield. And that’s really the purpose of this conference,” he said, describing the aim as coordinating aid that includes heavy weapons.
The head of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, told the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta that Ukraine could break into “several states”. His comments suggested the war could lead to a carve-up of the country for which Moscow would seek to pin the blame on its opponents.
UN chief in Moscow
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, on a visit to Moscow, said he was ready to fully mobilise the organisation’s resources to save lives and evacuate people from the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
“We are extremely interested in finding ways in order to create the conditions for effective dialogue, create the conditions for a ceasefire as soon as possible, create the conditions for a peaceful solution,” Guterres said, ahead of talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Separately, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no seriousness about diplomacy to end the Ukraine war, despite a series of international efforts.
“We’ve seen no sign to date that President Putin is serious about meaningful negotiations,” Blinken told the US Senate foreign relations committee.