As the US gave stark warnings of more Russian troops pressing closer to Ukraine’s borders, announcing pulling its diplomatic staff, and some airlines cancelled or diverted flights to the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has played down these intensified warnings, stressing he has yet to see convincing evidence.
After questioned warnings from US officials in recent days that Russia could be planning to invade as soon as Wednesday, Zelenskiy’s repeated statements urging calm among Ukrainians grew this weekend.
His stand hasn’t changed even after speaking at length on Sunday with the US President Biden about Russia’s military build-up along Ukraine’s borders, after which they both committed to pursuing diplomacy and deterrence measures while Biden reaffirmed the US commitment to help protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
As Western fears of potential Russian invasion grow, Biden allegedly made clear to Ukraine’s president that the US would respond swiftly and decisively to any further Russian aggression against Ukraine together with its allies and partners.
Also on Sunday, Kyiev criticized UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace’s remark that there is a whiff of Munich in the air – reference to the agreement that allowed German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938 that failed to prevent the WW2- which was not welcomed by Ukraine.
Ukraine said now is the wrong time to offend its partners, pointing to Wallace’s comparison of diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing the alleged Russian invasion to appeasement.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, reminded of this act which did not bring peace but the opposite, it brought a war, also warning that the panic caused by the West could be playing into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands
Despite urging against the panic that, according to him, could undermine Ukraine’s economy, both Zelenskiy and his civilian and military leaders are meanwhile preparing defences, soliciting and receiving a flow of arms from the US and other NATO members.
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