An offensive focused on the eastern part of the country, but without a reduction in attacks against civilian and military targets elsewhere: the US considers that the war in Ukraine is entering a new phase, which according to them requires a new reaction from the West.
As before Russia began its invasion on February 24, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke to the press yesterday, Monday, about what Washington believes will be the Russian military's next moves.
According to the official, Moscow is "heading to redeploy its forces to focus its assault on eastern Ukraine and sectors of southern Ukraine." It tried to "subdue all of Ukraine and failed," he opined, estimating that the new phase "could last months or more."
According to Washington, "Moscow will continue airstrikes and missile launches into the rest of the country to inflict military and economic damage and, clearly, to sow terror."
Sanctions and weapons
After images of civilian bodies in Butchnya, a Kiev suburb recently retaken by Ukrainian forces, sparked an international outcry, US President Joe Biden pledged to impose "further sanctions" against Russia.
They will be announced "this week," Jake Sullivan clarified, insisting on Washington's willingness to reach "consensus" with the European Union, which for its part is "urgently" discussing new economic retaliation against Moscow.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is travelling to Brussels where he will attend NATO and G7 meetings tomorrow Wednesday and the following Thursday.
Having already announced several rounds of measures, there are now few options left for the West, other than the major one of curbing Russian hydrocarbon sales to Europe, which for now have been left virtually unscathed.
In addition to economic sanctions, Jake Sullivan promised "other announcements of additional military assistance in the coming days" to Ukraine, adding that supplies may come from the US itself or from other countries.
He referred to "long-range air defense systems, artillery systems and coastal defense systems," without going into further detail, but stressing that now, deliveries of weapons and materiel to the Ukrainian military are unfolding "at a pace we've never seen before." In addition to the economic and military fields, a response to Russia's actions must also be given in the field of international justice, Washington believes.
War crimes"
"We need to gather evidence" and "e will need to have all the details" in order to conduct a "war crimes trial", Joe Biden said yesterday, Monday, when asked about the events in Bucha.
"You probably remember that I was criticized for calling (Russian President Vladimir) Putin a 'war criminal'. Well the truth is () he is indeed a war criminal," he insisted.
Jake Sullivan said the International Criminal Court - the US is not a party to it - is "one" of the mechanisms where war crimes can be tried, adding, however, that there are "other mechanisms".
The US national security adviser also said that "we have seen atrocities, we have seen war crimes", however "we have not seen to this stage a level of attacks that reaches the level of genocide" although "that is something we will continue to monitor".
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia's armed forces of committing "war crimes" that will be "recognized as genocide," signaling that those responsible "will pay."
Moscow denies that its troops killed civilians in Butchnya and the wider Kiev region. The Kremlin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speak of "staging" intended for the media.
Source.gr
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