CORRESPONDENT FROM WASHINGTON. For the Ukrainians, the phone call between Volodymyr Zelensky and Joe Biden on Thursday evening did not go well. The leader of Kiev would have asked the American president to put his cards on the table and show him what the belief of an “imminent attack” is based on, the terminology with which Washington has been referring to movements on the Ukrainian borders for a few days. The White House limited itself to reiterating the compactness of the Western front and the spokesperson for the National Security Council, Emily Horne, later denied the Ukrainian reconstructions: «They are fantasies».
Yesterday, however, Zelensky first said that “there is no misunderstanding with the US” and then speaking with foreign reporters confirmed a diversity of views, inviting the United States to mitigate the message since “continuing to talk about an imminent invasion throws us into panic the country and its economy “. The Russian threat exists – he conceded – but it is no more serious than the spring of 2021 when Moscow deployed troops not far from the border for the first time.
Zelensky in Washington blames two things in addition to a language full of fear: the first is the sudden and unmotivated, according to him, withdrawal of unnecessary personnel from the Kiev embassy. And to strengthen his position, he cited the example of Greece which has a consular office in Mariupol, the line of a possible front. The second reason for friction is sanctions. As conceived, they are a protection for the EU; to induce the Russians to desist from war purposes, they should be imposed immediately. Hypothesis that Blinken rejected.
To the Ukrainian president, Washington had the leaders of the Armed Forces deployed together respond for the first time at a press conference since the crisis in Afghanistan. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that “conflict is not inevitable” and that “there is room for diplomacy”, so he outlined a more complex and dangerous scenario. First of all, the Russians in the last 24 hours have strengthened their presence at the borders. The arsenal deployed by the Russians is massive and varied. Mark Milley, Chief of Staff, highlighted the logistical capabilities, of hybrid warfare, as well as the deployment of Navy, Air Force and infantry at the borders. For Austin, “Putin has a wide range of options” to choose from in order to launch any kind of attack.
There is one point they look at in the Pentagon: it is the Dnieper River that divides the country. When it freezes, it will be easier for armored vehicles to advance towards Kiev. It is the worst case scenario, a “massive invasion that would open up scary scenarios.” And the Russian military device, according to the Pentagon, would allow such an operation which would have “dramatic consequences on the civilian population”. In fact, Milley stressed that the deployment is in terms of volumes and objectives “very different from what America has seen in the recent past”.
Washington will continue to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses by delivering anti-tank missiles, weapons and ammunition and to coordinate with NATO. A third freighter arrived in Kiev in the evening. And President Biden yesterday in the late afternoon before returning to Washington from Pittsburgh said that “soon he will send US troops to Eastern Europe”. There are 8500 soldiers in the bases on American soil put on alert. Soon, therefore, they will be deployed on the Old Continent
Meanwhile, diplomacy moves to revive the Minsk agreements on the Donbass after the meeting of the Normandy format in Paris on Wednesday. Macron heard Putin to whom he reaffirmed his commitment to defend “the sovereignty of neighboring countries”. But the two found a point of understanding on the Minsk trial. Biden in the phone call the other day to Zelensky had said the same thing. An agreement on the Donbass is a necessary part of de-escalation as well as neutralizing the pro-Russian separatists.