Moscow and kyiv discuss a status for Ukraine similar to that of Austria or Sweden

In the absence of fighter planes, Ukraine will have drones. While the United States estimated last week that Ukraine did not need fighter jets to fight against Russian forces, despite multiple Ukrainian requests, Joe Biden announced on Wednesday the releasing an additional $800 million to provide military aid to Ukraine, part of which involves sending 100 drones to fight Russian artillery pounding cities. According to a military source, quoted by AFP, these are “Switchblade”, so-called “kamikaze” drones which explode on contact with the target and whose smaller model makes it possible to destroy light armored vehicles. The Pearl Harbor reference The announcement came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech via video link to the United States Congress, in which he urged the United States to provide Ukraine with more armaments to deal with the aerial bombardments of Russia, inviting American parliamentarians to remember the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the attacks of September 11, 2001. If Joe Biden opposes Ukrainian demands to create a zone of air exclusion over Ukraine, because it could start a third world war in his words, the United States will therefore provide more muscular military assistance. Russian S-300s In addition to the drones, this envelope of 800 million dollars “includes 800 anti-aircraft systems to allow the Ukrainian army to continue to stop the planes and helicopters which attack (Ukraine)”, indicated Joe Biden, stating that these anti-aircraft defense systems would feature longer-range missiles than the Stingers already supplied. According to the same American military source, these are Russian S-300s, first generation competitors of the American Patriot, which could come from certain countries of the former Soviet bloc which still have them, in particular Slovakia and Bulgaria. Weapons that the Ukrainian army masters well. The United States has them too. In December 1994, they had received some after the collapse of the USSR, from Belarus. In addition to these S-300s, Washington will also send 800 new Stinger portable surface-to-air missile launchers, effective against helicopters and low-flying planes, which will be added to the more than 600 Stingers already provided. The United States will also provide 9,000 anti-tank systems (including 2,000 Javelins) and 7,000 light weapons such as submachine guns, assault rifles, pistols and grenade launchers. Fear of Russian chemical and bacteriological weapons Ukraine and the Western powers fear that Russia may use chemical or bacteriological weapons. In which case, it would be the fault of Russia and this would lead to “massive and radical” economic sanctions against Moscow, warns the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, in an interview with Le Parisien. “If attacks with chemical or bacteriological means took place in Ukraine, we would know who would be solely responsible. It would be Russia. Unfortunately, we are used to its disinformation actions from Syria,” says Jean- Yves Le Drian in this interview posted online Wednesday evening. What if Vladimir Putin’s failure in Ukraine could be worse than a victory? “It goes without saying that the use of unconventional means would constitute an intolerable escalation and would lead in response to absolutely massive and radical economic sanctions, without taboos”, he adds. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed concern in recent days that Russia may resort to chemical attacks in Ukraine. Moscow in return accuses the United States of having developed biological weapons laboratories in the country, an allegation deemed fanciful by Washington. In his interview, Jean-Yves Le Drian accuses Russia of being engaged in Ukraine, where the Russian army launched a vast offensive on February 24, in a “dramatic process of long-lasting brutality”. Russian logic, believes the head of French diplomacy, “is based on the usual triptych: indiscriminate bombardments, so-called humanitarian ‘corridors’ designed to then accuse the adversary of not respecting them and talks with no other objective than to pretend to negotiate”. Without a ceasefire, he says, any progress in the talks will be impossible “because you don’t negotiate with a gun to your head”. Towards a compromise on the status of Ukraine? However, kyiv and Moscow discussed on Wednesday certain avenues likely to lead to a compromise on the status of Ukraine, outlining the hope of a possible way out of the crisis after three weeks of war. Volodimir Zelensky said negotiations between the two sides were becoming more “realistic” and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said some language under discussion could be agreed upon. Vladimir Putin, who ordered the launch of Russia’s massive military offensive against Ukraine on February 24, said Moscow was ready to discuss a neutral status for its neighbor. The Kremlin leader added, however, that Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine and that the West would fail in what he said was an attempt at world domination and the dismemberment of his country. The Russian assault, which Moscow presents as a “special operation”, is taking place as planned, he assured during an intervention before his ministers broadcast on state television. “A status of neutrality is now being seriously discussed alongside, of course, security guarantees,” Sergei Lavrov said. “There are absolutely precise wordings that in my view are close to being agreed upon.” The main Russian negotiator, Vladimir Medinski, clarified on public television: “Ukraine offers an Austrian or Swedish version of a neutral demilitarized state but at the same time a state with its own army and its own navy.” In an apparent sign of openness, Volodimir Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine was ready to accept guarantees in terms of security from Western countries, even if it meant giving up on its long-term objective of joining the NATO. The head of the Ukrainian delegation to the talks, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that kyiv still demanded a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops and wanted direct negotiations between Volodimir Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. If Russia presents the demilitarization and neutrality of Ukraine as the main objectives of its “operation”, with the “denazification” of the country, kyiv and its allies believe that the real goal of Moscow is to oust the elected government pro- Western power in Ukraine. ———– For Biden Poutin is a “war criminal” During an exchange on Wednesday with a journalist at the White House, the American president replied: “Oh, I think it’s a war criminal”, after having initially answered in the negative the question of whether he was ready to use these terms to designate the head of the Kremlin. This is the first time that Joe Biden has made such remarks, which the Kremlin has deemed “unacceptable and unforgivable”. Last week, during a visit to Poland, US Vice President Kamala Harris said Russia should “absolutely” be investigated for war crimes in Ukraine. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki later explained that Joe Biden had spoken from his heart, and that investigations would determine whether Vladimir Putin violated international law and committed war crimes, a procedure currently under way. by the US Department of Justice. Source: Reuters latribune.fr March 17, 2022, 11:28 a.m.