Putin warns Macron and Scholz that sending weapons to kyiv will be a “provocation” that would lead to an “escalation” of the war
Amid rumors about his health and the alleged weakening of his authority due to the slow advance of the Russian Army in the Donbas, President Vladimir Putin has intensified contacts with the West via telematics to give a triple image: that the offensive is going well in eastern Ukraine, that he will fight against sending arms to Volodymyr Zelenskiy and that his country remains open to negotiating with kyiv, although so far the proposals that have come from the Kremlin are none other than to urge his Ukrainian counterpart to capitulation.
Putin spoke this Saturday by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. According to Moscow, “the Russian president underlined the dangerous character that the continuous shipment of Western weapons to Ukraine is acquiring and warned in this regard of the risks of further destabilizing the situation and the aggravation of the food crisis.”
This problem, according to the Kremlin statement, “was examined in detail.” Putin, “with arguments and on the basis of specific data, explained the real reasons for the difficulties with the food supply: they were the result of the erroneous economic and financial policies of Western countries, as well as anti-Russian sanctions.”
“Russia is ready to help look for options for the unhindered export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports,” he said, according to the official Kremlin note. He also said he would commit to “an increased supply of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products, which will help reduce tension in the world food market.”
But for all this to happen, the top Russian leader demands first the lifting of the sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow – an issue that he already discussed this week with the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi – and also that the supply of weapons to Ukraine cease. . Zelensky does nothing more than emphasize that his country needs more weapons and, above all, heavy material to be able to successfully face Russian aggression.
launch systems
In this context, the Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoli Antonov, stated this Saturday that supplying Ukraine with the new multiple missile launch systems (MLRS) would be perceived in Moscow as a “provocation” that would lead to “an escalation of the conflict” . “We have to carefully verify this information.
At the moment, we start from the statements of the Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, in which he assures that a decision has not yet been made in this regard, ”said Antonov. In his words, «there is a risk that such weapons will be deployed near the Russian borders and the Ukrainians will have the opportunity to attack Russian cities. For us, it would be an unacceptable situation. We hope common sense will prevail.”
The Russian Army announced this Saturday the successful completion of a new test with the hypersonic missile ‘Tsirkon’, fired from the frigate ‘Admiral Gorshkov’, in the waters of the Barents Sea.
Moscow also reported that, during the telephone conversation with Macron and Scholz, Putin “paid special attention to the situation of the negotiations, which are frozen because of kyiv, and confirmed the readiness of the Russian side to resume dialogue” to deal with to seek an agreed solution to the current conflict. Scholz and Macron called on Putin for “direct and serious negotiations” with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Spain sends anti-aircraft missiles and one hundred soldiers to Latvia
Spain will increase its deployment in Latvia in front of the Russian border with the additional shipment of anti-aircraft missiles in addition to a hundred soldiers, which will increase the national presence in the NATO deterrence mission to 600 troops.
“We currently have troops in Latvia and Lithuania, in addition to the ships in the Mediterranean,” stressed Defense Minister Margarita Robles, who noted that this operation is “a work of deterrence and violence prevention.”
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