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Russia Now Engaged in a ‘Real’ War With the West Over Ukraine: Lavrov [1]
['Paul D. Shinkman', 'Jan.', 'At P.M.']
Date: 2023-01-23
Russia’s top diplomat on Monday said the invasion of Ukraine no longer represents a hybrid conflict but rather a “real” war between Russia and the West – a troubling escalation in rhetoric that aligns with growing concerns that Moscow is preparing to lash out at new NATO support for Kyiv.
“When we talk about what is happening in Ukraine, we are talking about the fact that this is no longer a hybrid war but a real one, which the West has been preparing for a long time against Russia,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to South Africa, historically an ally of the Soviet Union and a contemporary Russian economic partner.
The West is “trying to destroy everything Russian, from language to culture, which has been in Ukraine for centuries, and forbidding people to speak their native languages,” Lavrov said, according to a translation, repeating well-trod Kremlin talking points attempting to frame Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine as an act of self-defense.
The combative assertion serves as the latest escalation in Russia’s public statements about its war in Ukraine – and the consequences for its recent string of embarrassing battlefield failures and blunders. A top Putin ally said two weeks ago that Russia had extended its war in Ukraine to NATO as well, not just forces loyal to the government in Kyiv.
And it follows other troubling assertions, including from Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin who recently repeated unspecified threats of nuclear escalation with the West. Analysts believe the moves represent Russia’s tacit acknowledgement of its struggling position in Ukraine and the damaging potential of new weapons shipments NATO countries are considering, particularly German-made Leopard 2 tanks.
The rhetoric is “as part of an ongoing information operation aimed at deterring the Western provision of further military aid to Ukraine,” the independent Institute for the Study of War concluded in its latest analysis note. Of the nuclear threats, it adds that it “continues to assess that Russia is very unlikely to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and extraordinarily unlikely to use them against the West.”
Lavrov’s comments came hours after indications that several NATO countries, including Poland, appeared to have cleared diplomatic hurdles and would provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine – a development U.S. officials would represent a game-changing boon for Ukraine to build on its latest offensives against the numerically superior Russian army.
Russian state news published an analysis early Monday indicating that the arrival of the Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine would upset a balance between Russia and NATO that is already “on the brink.” It cited a military analyst who said NATO is entering “the most acute phase” of the conflict and is engaging in “a very dangerous balancing act” in considering delivering the tanks.
Germany under the leadership of newly installed Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far balked at supplying the tanks itself, one of several moves that has drawn widespread condemnation of Berlin for not taking a hard line against Russian aggression. Poland, however, has said it would supply several of its Leopard tanks provided Germany did not object. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Sunday said that her country “would not stand in the way” of Poland providing the tanks. The Finnish government has likewise indicated it would contribute to helping operate and to maintaining the tanks and perhaps even supply its own, depending on Germany’s decision.
So far, the U.S. government has not indicated it’s willing to provide Leopards or any other tanks to Ukraine, having already escalated its support earlier this month with new troop transport vehicles armed with weapons that make them veritable “tank-killers.”
That decision has prompted backlash from Biden’s political appointments who point to the Leopard’s as a key component of Ukraine’s plan for retaking territory.
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[1] Url:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2023-01-23/russia-now-engaged-in-a-real-war-with-the-west-over-ukraine-lavrov
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