NU.nl regularly gives you an overview of the situation in Ukraine. With this time: The Russian suspension of the nuclear New START treaty is on the minds. Russian President Vladimir Putin even says he wants to look at strengthening his nuclear forces. His US counterpart Joe Biden is not yet concerned.
Putin made his statements on the eve of the day of the defenders of the fatherland. It is a national holiday in Russia and takes place this Thursday.
“Moscow is going to think more intensively about strengthening its nuclear forces,” Putin said. He also said that Russian soldiers in Ukraine can count on the most modern weapons.
Wat is het New START-verdrag dat Rusland opschort?
- Het nieuwe Verdrag voor Vermindering van Strategische Wapens (New START) beperkt het aantal kernwapens dat Rusland en de VS op voorraad mogen hebben. Poetin zegt dat Rusland zich niet helemaal terugtrekt uit het verdrag, maar het voorlopig niet meer naleeft.
- Woensdagochtend heeft de Doema, het Russische parlement, officieel ingestemd met het opschorten van het verdrag. Later op de dag volgde het Russische Hogerhuis. Beide stemmingen waren formaliteiten.
For example, Putin wants to ship the hypersonic Zirkon missile in the short term. In addition, the Russian president did not specifically mention Ukraine as a final destination.
Zirkon missiles are relatively new to the global battleground. The first example was fired in 2018. The high speed makes the missiles much more difficult to track and intercept. They can be fired from ships, submarines and aircraft. Putin previously called the missiles “invincible”.
Biden also calls the missile “impossible to stop”. He did not comment further on the Zirkon missile on Wednesday. Biden did talk to ABCNews to the Russian suspension of the nuclear arms treaty. “It’s a big mistake, one that shows little responsibility.”
Yet the American president is not yet very concerned. According to Biden, Putin’s action does not mean that Russia will soon deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “Russia’s attitude to the deployment of those weapons has not changed,” Biden assured.
Biden and Putin address Russian people
Biden spoke out on Tuesday about the invasion of Ukraine initiated by Putin. “Our support for Kyiv will not waver,” Biden reiterated. He also addressed the Russian population directly. “We don’t want to control or destroy Russia. You are not the enemy. But this war was never a necessity. It is a tragedy that Putin chose. He can stop the war with one word.”
Putin addressed a crowd in Moscow on Wednesday afternoon. The theme of that meeting was the defense of the fatherland. With the meeting, Putin wanted to promise his people that almost one year after the war, “a large majority” of Russians still support the invasion.
Wil je meldingen ontvangen over nieuwe overzichten over de oorlog in Oekraïne?
During his annual speech in the Russian parliament on Tuesday, Putin said that Russia will systematically continue its offensive. He didn’t go into details.
Kyiv is on the lookout for a major Russian jubilee attack this Friday. Then it will be exactly one year since the war began. Ukraine claims that the Russians have mobilized about half a million soldiers.
It has been relatively quiet on the battlefield in recent days. Several dozen explosions were observed in Kherson on Tuesday. According to the Ukrainian army, at least five civilians were killed and sixteen others were injured. Residential buildings and “critical infrastructure” were said to have been targeted by Russian airstrikes.
0:21Quarrel between Wagner and Kremlin
There is also turmoil on another diplomatic level, namely between the Kremlin and the Wagner Group. Mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin accuses the Russian Defense Ministry of sabotaging his squads. According to Prigozhin, no or too little ammunition is deliberately supplied, as a result of which many of his soldiers are killed.
Prigozhin’s Wagner Group has been fighting on the Russian side for months. The mercenary boss has promised Putin that he will take Bakhmut for the president. That is difficult: so far Wagner only managed to take a few surrounding villages.
Prigozhin now argues that the Russian ministry is “destroying” his army by antagonizing him. The Kremlin denies and speaks of “complete untruths”. Without naming Prigozhin, the department says attempts are being made to sow discord. They would work “exclusively in favor of the enemy”.
EU comes with sanctions, new support from Italy and Spain
Finally, EU countries have decided to extend existing punitive measures against Russia for six months. A decision on a new, tenth sanctions package is expected on Thursday.
According to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, that package is worth more than 11 billion euros and it includes export bans for “goods that Russia cannot just get anywhere else”.
In the field of military support, things remained relatively quiet. Kyiv can count on extra air defense systems from Italy and six extra Leopard 2 tanks from Spain. But even with those tanks, the European allies are still a long way from the two tank battalions it promised to Kyiv.
