US warns of ‘tyranny, turmoil’ if Ukraine loses
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Saturday Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine offers a preview of a world where nuclear-armed countries could threaten other nations and said Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where might makes right.
Austin made the remarks at the annual Halifax International Security Forum, which attracts defense and security officials from Western democracies.
“Russia’s invasion offers a preview of a possible world of tyranny and turmoil that none of us would want to live in. And it’s an invitation to an increasingly insecure world haunted by the shadow of nuclear proliferation,” Austin said in a speech.
“Because Putin’s fellow autocrats are watching. And they could well conclude that getting nuclear weapons would give them a hunting license of their own. And that could drive a dangerous spiral of nuclear proliferation.”
Austin dismissed Putin’s claims that “modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia,” calling it a vision of “a world in which autocrats decide which countries are real and which countries can be snuffed out.”
He added that the war “shows the whole world the dangers of disorder. That’s the security challenge that we face. It’s urgent, and it’s historic.
But we’re going to meet it. …
The basic principles of democracy are under siege around the world,” he said.
While U.S. officials for months have warned of the prospect that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine in the face of battlefield setbacks, Biden administration officials have repeatedly said nothing has changed in U.S. intelligence assessments to suggest that Putin has imminent plans to deploy nuclear weapons.
“Ukraine faces a harsh winter. And as Russia’s position on the battlefield erodes, Putin may resort again to profoundly irresponsible nuclear saber-rattling,” he said Austin also compared Russia to China, saying Beijing is trying to refashion both the region and the international system to suit its authoritarian preferences. He noted China’s increasing military activities in the Taiwan Strait.
UK PM boosts defense aid
KYIV (AFP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday used his first visit to Kyiv to announce a major new air defense package, as the country celebrated retaking the southern city of Kherson.
“I am here today to say that the U.K. will continue to stand with you… until Ukraine has won the peace and security it needs and deserves,” Sunak told journalists at a news conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The British leader said the new package was worth 50 million ($60 million).