Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused Poland – a member of NATO – of territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union, namely in Ukraine and Belarus. Putin warned that any aggression against Minsk, Moscow’s main ally, would be seen as an attack on Russia itself. The accusation and warning, in a threatening tone, were issued at a meeting of the Security Council after Warsaw decided to send soldiers to the border with Belarus in response to the presence in that country of Wagner Group mercenaries.
Putin has claimed, without providing evidence, that the Ukrainian government is ready to do anything to stay in power, including handing over territory to “foreign owners”. According to the Russian president, the first interested parties are the Poles, who hope to “intervene directly in the conflict in Ukraine, later to “tear up” a larger part for themselves, to regain what they consider to be their historical territories.” And he didn’t beat around the bush: “The prospects are clear. For example, if Polish units enter Lviv or other Ukrainian areas, they will stay there. Forever.”
According to Russian military intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin, who also attended the televised meeting of the Security Council, Polish officials are coming to the conclusion that “Ukraine’s defeat is only a matter of time”.
With regard to Belarus, Putin claimed that Warsaw’s “dreams” of also taking parts of the country’s territory, which is part of a Union of States with Russia, are “well known”. “An aggression against Belarus is equivalent to an aggression against the Russian Federation”, said the Russian president. “We will respond with all the means at our disposal,” he added.
Putin also said that the Ukrainian counter-offensive, in the east and south of the country, is not succeeding, despite military and financial support from Western allies. “In any case, there are still no results,” he said. “Neither the colossal resources injected into the Kiev regime nor the supply of Western weapons, tanks, artillery, armored vehicles and missiles help,” he claimed.
two dead children
A bomb attack in the village of Druzhba (meaning Friendship), in the Donetsk region, killed two children this Friday, a 10-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, listing all the victims of the Russian attacks in his daily video on social media. In addition to these two children, two more women were killed in Honcharivske, where a rocket landed. “Only absolute evil can deliver such blows,” he said.
In Odessa, 20 people have died since the beginning of the week, including two other children. Attacks on this port city have been repeated since Moscow abandoned the grain deal that allowed Ukraine’s exports through the Black Sea, claiming that Russia’s part – to also allow food and fertilizer exports – was not being fulfilled.
This issue was discussed this Friday at a UN Security Council meeting, with Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo reiterating that Russian threats against civilian ships are “unacceptable”. “The new wave of attacks on Ukrainian ports could have major implications for global food security, especially in developing countries,” he stressed. The US, on the other hand, accused Moscow of reaching new lows and of waging “another war on the world’s food supply”.
Source: DN
