Tensions in Ukraine | Zelensky calls on the West to support the Ukrainian “shield”

(Kiev) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his country on Saturday as the “shield of Europe” against the threat of a Russian invasion, as Moscow carried out a new show of force with test fires of hypersonic missiles, in the midst of the Russian-Western crisis.

“For eight years, Ukraine has been a shield. For eight years, Ukraine has retained one of the largest armies in the world which is massed on our borders and not those” of the EU, launched the Ukrainian leader from the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

He called on his Western allies to cease all “appeasement” policies with Moscow, accused by Washington and Kiev of having massed 150,000 soldiers on Ukraine’s eastern borders.

While tensions have been growing for two months, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on the German channel ARD that “all signs indicate that Russia is planning a full attack” on Ukraine.

“We all agree that the risk of an attack is very high”, added Mr. Stoltenberg when NATO had just announced in the evening the transfer of its personnel present in Ukraine from Kiev to Lviv , in the west of the country, and in Brussels.

French President Emmanuel Macron nevertheless confided that Mr. Zelensky had assured him of his “willingness not to respond to provocations” Russian, while armed incidents multiply between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. .

The separatists, who accuse Kiev of wanting to attack them, announced on Saturday a “general mobilization” of men able to fight, after having ordered the evacuation of civilians to neighboring Russia the day before.

Adding to that, President Vladimir Putin personally oversaw ‘strategic’ drills on Saturday with the firing of ‘hypersonic’ missiles, new weapons the Kremlin chief previously called ‘invincible’ and capable of carrying nuclear charges. .

Vladimir Putin appeared alongside his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting by videoconference with his generals coordinating the firing. According to the Kremlin, these were carried out successfully and involved Tu-95 bombers and submarines.

“Clear” calendar

Friday evening, US President Joe Biden said he was “convinced” that Vladimir Putin had decided to invade Ukraine, and that the multiplication of clashes was intended to create a “false justification” to launch an offensive in “the week” , even the days to come.

“We are convinced that President Putin has made his decision”, repeated the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken on Saturday to the German daily. Suddeutsche Zeitung.

Statements of “propaganda and media hysteria”, swept Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, in support of Russia: “we firmly oppose the expansion of NATO to the borders of this brother country”, has he said on Twitter.

Washington claims to leave the door open to dialogue and a meeting between Mr. Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov is scheduled for February 24.

The Kremlin continues to deny any intention to attack neighboring Ukraine, a pro-Western country that the Kremlin wants to bring back into its sphere of influence.

Moscow conditions de-escalation on “guarantees” for its security, such as the withdrawal of NATO’s military infrastructure from Eastern Europe and the assurance that Ukraine will never join the Atlantic Alliance, demands unacceptable to Westerners.

From Munich, Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed his desire for Kiev to join NATO, calling for a “clear and achievable” membership timetable.

He also relaunched his proposal to meet Vladimir Putin, already made in 2021, but remained a dead letter.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for “unity” among Western allies, while US Vice President Kamala Harris promised NATO reinforcement in Eastern Europe in the event of a Russian attack. and “severe and effective” sanctions.

Sign of growing concerns, Berlin and Paris on Saturday called on their nationals to leave Ukraine. The German airline Lufthansa, and its Austrian subsidiary Austrian Airlines, announced the suspension of their flights to the Ukrainian cities of Kiev and Odessa from Monday until the end of the month.

“Getting hotter”

On the front, in eastern Ukraine, the fighting has redoubled. Kiev and Moscow-backed separatists accuse each other of inflaming the conflict, which has claimed more than 14,000 lives since 2014.

Kiev announced the death of two of its soldiers during these clashes. Mortar shells also fell not far from the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Denys Monastyrsky, visiting the front, without causing any casualties, according to AFP correspondents.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said on Saturday they had seen a “dramatic increase” in ceasefire violations, with a total of 1,566 breaches in 24 hours, a record this year. .

“It’s getting hotter and hotter,” 26-year-old Ukrainian soldier Andriï, posted near the front, told AFP.

Moscow maintained on Saturday that a Ukrainian shot had fallen into Russian territory, near the Ukrainian border, without causing any casualties. Information denied by Kiev.

The Russian region of Rostov, bordering Ukraine, has declared a state of emergency to deal with a possible influx of refugees from separatist areas.

Acting Russian Minister for Emergencies Alexander Chuprian arrived in the area to oversee the arrival of evacuees. He claimed that the latter have begun to receive financial assistance of 10,000 rubles, according to Russian agencies.

According to the latest figures from the separatists, more than 22,000 people have been evacuated to Russia, a low figure for areas where several hundred thousand people live.

“We decided to go to the grandmother’s (in Russia) where it’s calm, we had our dose in 2014, we don’t want to wait until the last moment,” Elena Sokela told AFP. , a resident of the separatist “republic” of Donetsk who arrived on the Russian side on Saturday morning with her son.