The visit of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Kyiv last Sunday was very illustrative of US strategy in Eastern Europe, according to documents that have been circulating for years but have not been released by the government proven so clearly. Blinken promised more economic aid to Ukraine to keep the war on Russia going, and this Thursday President Joe Biden announced a $33 billion plan in “aid.” Austin, a four-star general and then head of the Pentagon, was even clearer: “We want to see Russia weakened to the point where it can no longer do the things it got by invading the… Ukraine did. To be honest, he’s already lost a lot of military capacity and a lot of troops, and we don’t want him to build that capacity back up quickly.”
From the White House, Biden said “backing down” on Russia is not an option for Western countries. “The cost of this fight is not cheap. But giving in to aggression will cost more if we let it,” the president added. He then urged lawmakers to support the initiative, which includes $20 billion in military aid that, in a typical response, comes from the extreme West, intended to “bring arms and ammunition to the Ukrainian people.” At a time of low popularity (see separately), it seems a measure aimed at regaining the initiative behind closed doors.
The remainder of the funds Biden requested from Congress would be used to allow Volodimir Zelenskiy’s administration “to respond to the immediate crisis” caused by the war, another 3,000 million to deal with the food surge and an amount which is not intended entirely to support independent media.
The US offensive has no ace up its sleeve, so on Tuesday Biden will visit Lockheed Martin’s factory in Alabama, where Jevelin missiles are produced. On the other hand, it’s good to remember that from 2016 to 2021 – already retired – General Austin served on the board of directors of Raytheon Technologies, the other major American weapons manufacturer. He also had small responsibilities at mining company Nucor and at Tenet Healthcare, a healthcare services company, but that’s another matter.
Austin took time in Kyiv to encourage the Ukrainian troops as a behind-the-scenes commander: “The first thing to win is to believe that you can win. And they believe they can win,” he said. “And they can win if they have good equipment and the right support,” he added.
More weapons for war
But not only the US is counting on increasing its military contributions to Ukraine. Germany, which has violated self-restraints in conflict regions since the end of World War II, announced the shipment of Guepard tanks. France is not far behind, joining Caesar guns, while the UK showcases its Starstreak missiles at this tragic arms show.
Not to be left behind, Russia admitted this Friday that it was responsible for the attack in Kyiv during the visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The attack killed journalist Vira Hyrych, a producer for US-funded radio station Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it was a long-range, high-precision device aimed at the workshops of the Artyom missile maker.
Guterres, who was previously in the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin, traveled to Kyiv to bring together positions on a possible peace deal under the auspices of the United Nations. The Portuguese condemned the attack, while his spokesman Saviano Abreu pointed out that “it’s a war zone but it’s shocking that this happened close to where we were”.
On the battlefield, Russian forces are expanding further east of the country, and NATO has already warned they would move west to establish a corridor with Trasnitria, Moldova’s pro-Russian sector. In Moscow, on the other hand, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zajarova protested against “attempts to include the region that the Putin government has recognized as an independent republic.” “We are concerned about rising tensions in Transnistria,” Zajarova said, referring to a couple of blasts registered during the week and classified as acts of terrorism. Putin went further and warned that he would take revenge on countries that try to escalate the conflict.
Controversial Fuels
The other battlefield is fuel supply to European countries. Gazprom’s decision to stop deliveries to distributors in Poland and Bulgaria until they pay for the services already provided, in accordance with the April 1 Kremlin decree, met with opposition. For European leaders, this is blackmail. “Europe has the capacity to replace the gas provided by Russia,” encouraged Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy. From Washington, they viewed this as a way to avoid the sanctions imposed on Russia since the February 24 invasion. “We will not allow you to use your oil and gas to avoid the consequences of your aggression,” Biden said.
But for the Russian authorities, this is not just another form of struggle, but an urgent necessity, as charging their exports any other way would risk fresh blockages of their funds, as has already happened with around $300 billion Central bank seized in the west and another 30 billion in assets.
In any case, the measure seems to have had an effect, as other countries have already used rubles to pay for gas without raising a fuss. And the Central Bank of Russia cut interest rates again from 17% to 14%. It was raised to 20% in February before the first sanctions against Russian assets and banks.
The Zelensky government, meanwhile, has already said it hopes to acquire all the assets at its disposal to finance the country’s reconstruction, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in his Telegram account.
Meanwhile, a Russian pilot and a former US marine were swapped in Turkey on Wednesday at the behest of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who remains in direct contact with Putin and aspires to be a key player in the rapprochement between Moscow and Kyiv . «
China asks for explanations on bioweapons
Tan Kefei, a spokesman for China’s defense ministry, accused the United States of being the real creator of the biological crises and urged Washington to clarify its biomilitary activities. The spokesman said, according to a telegram from the official Xinhua News Agency, that the United States’ biomilitary activities in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) “have become a source of concern for members of the international community. , including China.
“The Chinese side believes this is an important security issue that the US side needs to address,” Tan said, citing evidence that the US military used biological weapons in the 1950s Korean War, including the border area with China American historians have publicly acknowledged this.”
The speaker also recalled Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, which caused irreparable damage to the people and environment of Vietnam.
“The United States is the only country in the world that has used weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, against other countries,” Tan noted. “There are a growing number of realistic questions that cannot be avoided.” Tan added, to later highlight, that the United States has acknowledged that it has 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries, including biological research centers in Ukraine with support from the United States, which fears they will fall into Russian hands.