21 March 2022 18:38

Politics

Troops for Ukraine, Kremlin’s claims, and pressure on Biden: Foreign media digest as of March 21

Authors

Olexandra Zakharova , Ksenia Lisna

Western media continue to report about the war in Ukraine: today, on March 21, the media covered how Israel and Turkey are trying to act as peacekeepers in the negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, how the United States was disappointed in these negotiations, and how President Joe Biden is under pressure in the USA for holding off on helping our country.

The West is also discussing deploying peacekeepers, Biden's trip to Warsaw, and the possibility for the allies to send troops to Ukraine.

offers an up-to-date review of what the European and American media are reporting, covering 26 days of active Russian invasion.

Israel as a peacekeeper and the Kremlin's claims

Photo: Wikipedia

Reuters reports that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has been trying to mediate an end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, said that despite some progress big gaps remained between the sides.

"There's still a long way to go, because... there are several issues in dispute, some of them fundamental," he said.

Bennett added that Israel, "together with other friends in the world, will continue trying to bridge the gap and bring an end to the war".

Sky News published a series of claims made by the Kremlin at a briefing today:

Countries that have influence over Kyiv should use that to make Ukraine "more constructive" in peace talks;
Talks with Ukraine are not as progressive as Russia wants them to be. Russia is ramping up efforts to work faster on negotiations;
There is no basis for a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy;
Claims that Russia is not allowing Ukrainian civilians to evacuate are "lies" (despite the fact that it is the invaders who shoot the "green corridors"—Ed. note);;
Instead, nationalists in Ukraine "are stopping civilians from fleeing via the humanitarian corridors";
An oil embargo would hit Europe's energy balance while the United States would lose nothing in the event of an embargo.

Odesa and Kyiv: Russians will not give up trying to capture them

The BBC, citing General Sir Richard Barrons, reports that the port city of Odessa would be Russia's next "logical" target.

In his opinion, the invaders will apply firepower on the Ukrainian armed forces in depth, hit supply lines, their logistics and air bases, as well as forces doing the fighting.

"And then they'll pound away at cities and territory they feel they need to own," Barrons explained

In that respect, the Ukrainian port city of Odesa is Russia's next target in the south. Taking Odesa would isolate Ukraine's economy from the trading routes via the Black Sea.

At the same time, the Russians would keep pressure on Kyiv, he adds, because that was the political center of gravity. But they know it is too big an objective and "too well defended to force their way into anything like the whole of the city."

The British Ministry of Defense confirms that Kyiv remains a priority for Russia, therefore in the coming weeks there will be new attempts to encircle it.

Russia is not inclined to diplomatic solution of the issue

Photo: Getty Images

The Guardian reports that the United States is not optimistic about the talks on Ukraine, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy ups pressure on Joe Biden.

There was little immediate hope of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine, as pressure continued to build on the US president ahead of a crucial Nato summit in Europe this week, ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned.

Biden, facing growing dissatisfaction with his approach to the war, will go to Brussels on Thursday March 24 and then to Poland. He will discuss Warsaw's proposal to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, which the United States considers an unlikely scenario.

At the same time, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, despite the support of the States, seem one-sided, Thomas-Greenfield noted:

"The Russians have not leaned in to any possibility for a negotiated and diplomatic solution"

The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told NBC:

"Turkey is doing some real effort to try to facilitate, support talks between Russia and Ukraine. It’s far too early to say whether these talks can lead to any concrete outcome."

NATO will not send its troops, but will support the allies

Thomas-Greenfield informed about the prospects for the presence of NATO peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.

"I can’t preview what decisions will be made and how NATO will respond to the Polish proposal," she said. "What I can say is American troops will not be on the ground in Ukraine at this moment."

However, other NATO countries may decide that they want to put troops inside of Ukraine, that will be a decision that they have made, the ambassador said.

"We don’t want to escalate this into a war with the United States but we will support our Nato allies," she stressed.

The ambassador also called the fact that several thousand residents of Mariupol were forcibly deported to Russia unconscionable, because concentration and prisoner camps await them there.

Criticism of Biden inside the US: He is asked to step up

Photo: Getty Images

Republicans were critical of the pace and content of US support.

"The president has had to be pushed and pulled to where he is today," the Wyoming Republican senator John Barasso says.

According to him, it was Congress that brought about sanctions, that brought about the ban on Russian oil, that brought about weapons and all of this big aid package. So far the administration has only released $1bn of the promised amount.

"We might not have been in this situation if they had done punishing sanctions before the tanks began to roll," the Republican believes.

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, adds that he believed Biden "needs to step up his game":

"The president has generally done the right thing but never soon enough. I am perplexed as to why we couldn’t get the Polish MiGs into the country."

McConnell added that Biden should visit friendly countries close to the conflict zone, such as Romania, Poland, and the Baltic nations.

"They’re right on the frontlines and need to know that we’re in this fight with them to win."

American extremists and demands to provide aircraft to Kyiv

Photo: Wikipedia

Mitch McConnell also condemned Republican extremists who have opposed support for Ukraine, such as the North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorne, who has called Zelenskyy "a thug".

At the same time, concern is rising among Biden’s allies. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic Senate whip, reiterated the call to approve air support for Ukraine.

"We’re asking for one-third of the Polish air force to be sent into Ukraine," he said.

Of course, it is necessary to support the Poles, who are a few kilometers from the war, but there are ways and weapons for this.

"There are other ways for us to provide surface-to-air missiles and air defenses that will keep the Russians at bay in terms of their aerial attacks," the Democrat assured.

At the same time, Marek Magierowski, the Polish ambassador to the US, stressed that the proposal for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine was only "a preliminary concept".

"We can’t take any decisions unilaterally, they have to be taken by all NATO members," he told CNN. "If there is an incursion into Nato territory, I believe that Russia can expect a very harsh response."

The European Union is preparing a new defense strategy

The Telegraph reports that the European Union intends to approve a new defense strategy designed to increase the bloc's capacity to act, including setting up a 5,000-strong rapid reaction force.

The plan — in the pipeline for two years — has undergone a last-minute rewrite to increase the focus on the threat from Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine.

"It's not the answer to the Ukrainian war, but it is part of the answer," EU foreign policy Josep Borrell said ahead of a meeting of the bloc's foreign and defense ministers.

"When we started working, we couldn't imagine that at the last moment of approval the situation would be so bad and Europe would be facing such a big challenge."

The return of diplomats to Kyiv and admiration for Zelenskyy

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

The British outlet The Independent reports that Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, has tweeted that his country will "soon" return diplomats to Kyiv. He said he was urging the EU to do the same.

According to him, those returning to the war zone would be "volunteers."

The outlet also reports that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that he had offered Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his family refuge in the United Kingdom around the time Russia invaded Ukraine.

According to Johnson, the possibility had been discussed "ages ago", but Zelensky refused:

"Volodymyr has always been clear, his duty is to the Ukrainian people; he’s going to stay there, he’s going to look after them. I have to say I admire him."

He also praised Zelenskyy as a "heroic war leader" for the way he has "brought his people together" and "mobilized the world."

Photo: Getty Images

Mr Johnson also told the Sunday Times in an interview that the Ukrainian president has regular conversations with him and that he is an "absolutely charming guy but he’s also proved to be an inspiration".

The Prime Minister of Great Britain said he had a very strong desire to support the President of Ukraine in any way he could and did not rule out the possibility of visiting Kyiv.

"Whether that would be a useful way of showing my support I don’t know but it is of huge, strategic, political, economic, moral importance for Putin to fail and Zelenskyy to succeed," Johnson believes.

The Prime Minister of Great Britain said that he hopes Kyiv "never falls".

Instead of an afterword. The West obviously have understood very well that Russia is not ready for a diplomatic solution to the issue and is only stalling for time to exhaust Ukraine. The Kremlin did not even agree to a pause in shelling, because it is afraid that Kyiv will have time to regroup. This says a lot about Vladimir Putin's fears, but NATO's delay in handing over Polish aircraft and air defense systems to Ukraine is also indicative.

Of course, it is nice to hear how the head of the British government admires the Ukrainian president, but this does not help at all in a situation where Russia has begun to drop its Kinzhal missiles on Kyiv and is ready to destroy the civilian population until the Ukrainian army becomes discouraged.

Of course, the Kremlin underestimates the strength of the Ukrainians, believing that they may be frightened by the dispersal of rallies in Kherson with weapons or subsequent bombardments, but the number of victims of the war is growing, and the cost of our future victory is becoming ever greater. Ukraine has been defending its independence for 26 days.