Will Putin get what he wants? What does he desire? Putin is such a very, very evil man. He kills his own people or puts them in prison to get what he wants. The man knows to limits. This is a showdown of Putin vs. Biden! Who will win? This could really suck Americas dry, emotions are running so very high in America now, and we are in very bad shape in so many ways…. We pray that this very, very dangerous situation will be resolved.
From THE HILL:
As Russian President Vladimir Putin denies a step-by-step strategy of aggression against Ukraine, Western powers want to tell the story for him.
Eager to keep the pressure on the enigmatic Russian president, President Biden is weighing the deployment of several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to NATO allies in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, The New York Times reported late Sunday following the administration’s instructions to evacuate some U.S. personnel and embassy family members from Kyiv along with a warning to U.S. citizens to depart Ukraine immediately “due to the continued threat of Russian military action” (CNN).
The Associated Press: NATO sends ships, fighter jets to Eastern Europe as Ireland rejects Russia’s military drills off its coast.
The United Kingdom asserted over the weekend that the Kremlin was developing plans to install a pro-Russian government in Ukraine, even naming politicians — an accusation of political intrigue and meddling that Russia denounced as “disinformation” (The New York Times and The Associated Press).
More than a week ago, the United States blasted the Kremlin for allegedly sending saboteurs into eastern Ukraine to stir up a false flag pretext for military invasion as it flaunted 100,000 Russian troops across the border. Russia denied it.
Russia has been moving more troops, armor and advanced anti-aircraft systems toward ally Belarus, expanding a force within range of Kyiv for what Russia calls exercises.
Biden and U.S. officials have taken to publicly describing Putin, 69, as a man frozen in the past — a retrograde leader intent on reclaiming by force some of the now-sovereign territory lost by the Soviet Union. The message to the Russian people is that Putin’s version of nationalism carries a costly price for them because of promised U.S. and European sanctions should Putin order an invasion. A mano-o-mano showdown between Biden and Putin, despite private summits, diplomatic huddles and phone conversations intended by the new administration to ease tensions, has become what Western powers describe as the Russian president’s contrived drama.
Biden, who was vice president at the time, well remembers that Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 without a shot fired.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insists his countrymen, and the defense forces he commands (pictured above in Kyiv), will fight for their country rather than roll over to be swallowed by Russia.
“If we are going to protect ourselves against one of the most powerful armies in the world, then this will be war,” Zelensky told The Washington Post last week. “And if this will be war, it’s going to be a very strong war and everyone will lose. Hundreds of thousands of lives will be lost. Ukraine will suffer; Russia will suffer; European countries adjacent to Ukraine will suffer; and the ones who are further away will be impacted by a migration crisis. For us, the most important thing is to preserve our territory,” he said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (pictured below with the president) on Sunday repeated the U.S. warning, supported by allies, that any attack by Russia will be met with wounding economic punishments — without pause. “If a single additional Russian force goes into Ukraine in an aggressive way, as I said, that would trigger a swift, a severe and a united response from us and from Europe,” Blinken told CNN.
Biden, who conferred over the weekend with his national security advisers at Camp David, last week said he expects Russia to attack its neighbor, based on intelligence assessments.
The United States promised after a diplomatic meeting in Geneva last week to respond to Russian demands this week in writing (The New York Times).
To prepare for Russia’s actions, the United States sent two large shipments of weapons to Ukraine in the last few days (CNN). The administration also is working with allies to develop a global strategy to increase liquified natural gas production should Russia invade (CNN).
