There are new concerns about how quickly Ukraine could run out of ammunition as fighting intensifies in Donbas, where Russia is trying to encircle and isolate Ukrainian forces in its quest to control the region.
As he tries to keep up the pressure on allies to provide greater support in this next phase, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky argues that the West must see such a fight as a critical turning point to curb Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unbridled ambitions and demonstrate the power of the West. commitment to defend democracy against a voracious autocratic power.
Zelensky warned that the looming battle in Donbas “may influence the course of the entire war” and said his country has no intention of giving up territory in eastern Ukraine to end the war during an exclusive interview with Jake. CNN Tapper that aired. Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“There will never be enough. Enough is not possible,” Zelensky said, explaining the challenges ahead in his country’s eastern region. “There is a full-scale war going on today, so we still need a lot more than we have today. … We make have no technical advantages over our enemy. We’re just not on the same level there.”
“For Biden’s confirmed $800 million in support, the most important thing is speed,” he added.
Although the United States announced it would send 18 155mm Howitzer guns and 40,000 artillery shells as part of its latest package, Starr reported that a US official warned the aid could run out in a matter of days as heavy fighting in the Middle East intensifies. Donbas.
“What the Ukrainians desperately need are long-range fires, rockets, artillery, drones that can disrupt or destroy the systems that are causing so much damage in Ukrainian cities, and that will also play a critical role in this next phase, as long as .begins,” Hodges said. “I would really like to hear the administration talk about winning and having a sense of urgency to get these things in there. Otherwise, this window of opportunity that we have, the next two weeks, to really disrupt Russia’s attempt to build itself is going to Approve.”
A ‘red line’ in Mariupol
In its statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had surrounded the remaining Ukrainian soldiers and others holding out at the Azovstal steel plant. “In the event of further resistance, all will be eliminated,” the statement said.
Both Zelensky and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba framed the fate of Mariupol as another critical turning point in the war, in part because the human cost of Russia’s relentless bombardment of that city remains unknown.
Zelensky previously warned that the removal of military forces in Mariupol could stall any peace negotiations with Russia. On Sunday, Kuleba said it was difficult for his country to continue talks with Russia after the atrocities in Bucha. Russia’s determination to raze Mariupol “at all costs” could become “a red line,” she said during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
In a chilling admission, Zelensky told Tapper that no one yet knows how many people have died in Mariupol.. “If someone gives you a figure, it would be a total lie,” Zelensky said. He added that “several thousand, tens of thousands” were forced to evacuate the city in the direction of Russia, leaving no documentary trace, and that the Ukrainian government does not know where they are.
While he said he was still prepared to engage in diplomatic talks with Russia if that opportunity arises, it has become more difficult to do so as he has seen the staggering toll of Putin’s aggression in his country. “What is the price of all this? It is the people. The many people who have been killed,” Zelensky said. “And who ends up paying for all this? It’s Ukraine. Just us.”
Putin’s hardened mindset
One of the biggest challenges for the Biden administration and its allies thus far has been determining where is Putin’s “red line” and how much can they continue to help Ukraine without provoking the Russian president to escalate the war, which could endanger NATO troops.
Military experts interpreted the move as a sign that Russia might contemplate attacking not only the weapons themselves when they reach Ukrainian soil, but also NATO supply convoys transporting the weapons to Ukraine’s borders.
As world leaders try to figure out what Putin is thinking, and how far he might go in trying to punish nations that help Ukraine, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who met Putin face-to-face last week, said he was it is clear that Putin believes he is winning the war and is operating “in his own logic of war”.
“He thinks the war is necessary to ensure the security of the Russian Federation. He doesn’t trust the international community. He blames the Ukrainians for the genocide in the Donbas region,” Nehammer said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” referring to the fictitious propaganda that Putin has launched to justify his acts of aggression against Ukraine. “Now it is in his world, but I think he knows what is happening now in Ukraine.”
Zelensky also issued a challenge to Ukraine’s allies when asked by Tapper if the promise world leaders make each year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, in the refrain “Never again,” now rings hollow given that their efforts so far have not they have managed to stop the atrocities that Russia has inflicted throughout its unprovoked invasion.
“I don’t believe in the world,” Zelensky said plainly when asked about that refrain. “Never again. Really, everyone talks about this and yet, as you can see, not everyone has the guts.”
Reference-www.cnn.com