Saturday saw an increase in violence and preparations for war as Russian-backed separatists increased their presence in Ukraine’s troubled east.
Vice President Harris warned that there would be severe sanctions for Russia and its allies if it invades. In the meantime, Volodymyr Zelensky (Ukraine President) accused leaders around the world of complicity with Russia and called for stronger support.
The rush to find a diplomatic solution came after President Biden said Friday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has “made the decision” to strike Ukraine, warning of Kremlin-orchestrated false-flag operations in the coming days as pretexts for an attack. Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, stated that Biden will meet the National Security Council Sunday night to discuss Ukraine.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian militants intensified, meanwhile, with Ukrainian military officials reporting a tenfold increase in shelling by pro-Russian militants in the area.
Here’s what to know
UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS
Will he or won’t he?
That’s the question the world is asking about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to invade Ukraine.
U.S. Officials have stated that the Russian military is likely to invade Ukraine. Biden stated that he is “convinced” Putin made the decision of invading and will attack within days. Here’s the latest information about Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that he had “an urgent conversation” with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron. Zelensky said that he had “an urgent conversation” with Macron about the necessity and possibilities for a political-diplomatic solution. Zelensky tweeted that he had spoken to Macron about “the aggravation at the frontline and our losses” as well as the incident on Saturday when Ukrainian journalists were subjected to mortar fire while touring the frontlines with Russia-backed separatists.
Had an urgent conversation with President @EmmanuelMacron. Informed about the situation on the frontline and the losses. Also, the bombardment of journalists and politicians. We discussed the necessity and potential ways to de-escalate the situation and reach a political-diplomatic solution.
— Volodimir Zelens’kii (@ZelenskyyUa) February 19, 2022
Maryan Kushnir, a correspondent for Radio Svoboda, who was on the Novoluhansk tour during the attack, said shells fell several hundred yards from where the officials — including Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy — and journalists were visiting.
“Just now, they opened mortar fire at our interior minister,” Kushnir said in a video posted on Twitter by Radio Svoboda.
Macron is scheduled to have a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday — their fifth in 2022, Russian news agency Tass reported.
By David L. Stern5: 34 p.m.
LVIV, Ukraine — A top European diplomat said Saturday that talks aimed at defusing the growing tensions in eastern Ukraine did not take place because “some participants linked their attendance to certain political preconditions.”
The meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group was canceled for the second time in two days. This group includes representatives from Russia, Ukraine and Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is charged with finding peaceful solutions to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
Western diplomats focused their attention recently on this group, hoping that it could provide an opportunity for Russia and Ukraine to find common ground and convince Russia to withdraw from Ukraine’s borders.
” I hosted an extraordinary meeting at the Trilateral Contact Group this morning,” stated Ambassador Mikko Kinnunen. He is a special representative to Ukraine in the OSCE. “Unfortunately, and despite the worsening situation in the conflict related to eastern Ukraine, some participants linked their attendance to certain political preconditions.”
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a statement posted on social media Saturday that Russian representatives “refused to participate” in the meeting. Kinnunen stated that every opportunity must be taken to diffuse tensions and minimize the potential for unintended consequences. “For three days now, we have been observing a worrying degree of escalation, including military activities, and inflammatory rhetoric.”
Later Saturday, the European Council’s foreign affairs representative reiterated the bloc’s “unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized NATO on Saturday, accusing the organization of fumbling as tensions between Russia and the West rise over Ukraine. “If NATO continues to expand eastward, are they conducive for maintaining peace and stability within Europe?” he stated at a Munich security conference. “Since the Cold War is long gone, NATO, a product of the Cold War, needs to adapt itself to the changing circumstances.”
The comments came after NATO leaders described China as being a “systemic challenge” and a security risk at their annual security conference in Brussels. China accused NATO at the time of spreading “lies, rumors and baseless accusations.”
When asked about Wang’s comments on Saturday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg rebuked the remarks.
“For the first time, we now see Beijing joining Moscow in calling on NATO to stop admitting new members,” he said. It is an effort to determine the fate of all free nations. It is an attempt to rewrite international rules. And impose their own authoritarian models of governance.”
Canada is sending military equipment and a loan for development aid to Ukraine in the midst of the country’s crisis with Russia.
Ukraine’s Defense Department stated in a news release Saturday that a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17 transport plane arrived at Danylo Halytskyi International Airport in Lviv, about 350 miles west of Kyiv and within a short drive to the Polish border. Lviv is now the “western capital”, as foreign diplomats have fled Kyiv.
“We received military aid in the form of rifles, machine guns with optical sights, night vision and surveillance devices and military equipment,” tweeted Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. “Thank you for this important and timely decision!”
Weapons for @ArmedForcesUkr from our close friends We received military aid in the form of rifles,machine guns with optical sights,night vision&surveillance devices&military equipment.Thank you for this important & timely decision! @AnitaAnandMP special thank to You pic.twitter.com/JgaK4iPqId
— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) February 19, 2022
The decision was also confirmed by Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand, who met with Reznikov at a major security conference in Munich.
“We stand with Ukraine,” Anand wrote. “With lethal and nonlethal military aid, a loan of up to $500M and development aid, we are providing comprehensive assistance to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
We stand with Ukraine. With lethal and non-lethal military aid, a loan of up to $500M and development aid, we are providing comprehensive assistance to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Great to meet again with @oleksiireznikov in Munich today. pic.twitter.com/0R65RMEwkE
— Anita Anand (@AnitaAnandMP) February 19, 2022
Canada isn’t the only country prepared to assist Ukraine with weaponry: Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country was ready to provide weapons to Ukraine, according to Reuters. We are prepared to supply additional defensive weapons to Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Western diplomats made a last-ditch push for a peaceful resolution to tensions between Russia and Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, emphasizing that diplomacy remained an option up until the possible moment when Moscow launches an attack.
“While we’re convinced that President Putin has made his decision to go, until that — it actually happens — we will leave no stone unturned when it comes to diplomacy,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. His remarks were made a day after US President Biden stated that the U.S. had cause to believe Putin wanted to invade Ukraine.
Blinken stated that he would still meet with Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, next week in case Russia doesn’t launch an invasion by then. He said that the United States is ready to work with Russia in matters such as the position of its weapons systems.
Blinken described the unprecedented level of cooperation between America and Europe as unimaginable.
” “It’s the result of a very deliberate effort by both sides to accomplish that,” he stated. And that is why we are pursuing diplomatic options, regardless of whether they have any left, it’s done in an entirely coordinated manner. Our response to Russian aggression will be swift, unified and consequential. And if it comes to confronting Russian aggression, we’re also fully coordinated and the response will be swift, unified, and consequential.”
He added that Putin’s actions have produced “the opposite of his aims” by knitting NATO closer together and leading the alliance to shore up its eastern flank.
Pressed in a separate interview with Russian television channel Dozhd TV about the reliability of U.S. intelligence on Putin’s plans, Blinken said that although some information has “turned out to be inaccurate,” U.S. officials are confident in the intelligence. “We are very confident with the information that we have and bring it forward not in order to start war but to stop war,” he stated.
Foreign Ministers from the Group of Seven called for Russia to reduce tensions with Ukraine. In a statement released by the White House, foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the High Representative of the European Union reiterated their “unwavering commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and territorial waters.”
“Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified massing of military forces, the largest deployment on the European continent since the end of the Cold War is a challenge to global security and the international order,” the group wrote. “We call on Russia to choose the path of diplomacy.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that possible Western sanctions against Russia should be made public now to deter Moscow from invading Ukraine. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that sanctions against Russia should be made public immediately to deter Moscow from invading Ukraine. Why would we need those sanctions then?” he asked in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour during a security conference in Munich.
Zelensky clarified that he was not necessarily asking countries to introduce sanctions today — just to make public a list “for Russia to know what will happen if they start the war.” But he acknowledged that there is little support for such a move among Western powers. The United States and its European allies have warned of severe economic consequences for Ukraine if it invades, although some details are still to be decided on. Zelensky stated that Ukraine would be considered insolvent if it doesn’t get new security assurances from the Budapest Memorandum signatories. The 1994 agreement, originally signed by Russia, the United States and Britain, gave security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine giving up the sizable nuclear arsenal it acquired after the fall of the Soviet Union.
British Foreign Minister Liz Truss said Saturday that Ukraine’s “worst-case scenario” of a potential Russian invasion could happen as soon as next week.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Truss said that Europe is facing one of its most serious security situations in years. “The worst case scenario could occur as soon as next week.” “The reality is that Russia does want to turn the clock back.”
Truss said there’s been a significant increase in disinformation throughout the region, including what she described as false-flag operations in Donbas, a contested region of eastern Ukraine where Kyiv government forces have been locked in a years-long conflict with Moscow-backed militants. “Russia has proven that they don’t care about diplomacy,” she stated. “We need to be strong because that is the only thing that Russia understands.”
By David L. Stern12: 54 p.m.
LVIV, Ukraine — Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and five others were wounded as a result of shelling in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, the country’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said.
Reznikov did not provide further details in a statement posted on social media. The defense minister stated that the Ukrainian government was not planning on launching an offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas. But he also said Kyiv would “not allow the firing on the positions of our troops and human settlements with impunity.”
The deaths come as the Ukrainian military reports a tenfold increase in shelling in the past three days, accusing separatists of using weapons banned in previous agreements.
The sound of shelling could be heard at a crossing between Ukraine and the separatist-controlled Luhansk territory Saturday — another indication of an escalation in fighting and tension between Ukraine’s government forces and the pro-Russian militants.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a standing ovation when he took the podium at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Zelensky, however, was not content with the friendly reception he received from the audience. He had harsh words to say about Western leaders after praising them for their support.
“Has our world completely forgotten the mistakes of the 20th century? He asked, “Where does appeasement policy often lead?”
He added: “How did we get to this point in the 21st century where war is being waged and people are dying in Europe? This answer to me is simple: the security architecture in our world is fragile and obsolete. The rules that have been agreed upon by the world dozens of years ago are no longer working.”
Zelensky traveled to the conference to speak to assembled dignitaries about the escalating threat of a Russian invasion as shelling by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine intensified.
Zelensky blamed countries around the world for their “indifference that turns them into accomplices” as “some countries are committing crimes.” He said the global security system is slow and ineffective, likening it to “a cough syrup instead of a good covid vaccine.”
Western officials repeated their support for Ukraine at the conference this weekend and warned that Russia will face severe sanctions if it attacks.
Zelensky thanked countries for their support, but argued that Russia would face severe sanctions if it attacks.
Zelensky thanked countries for their support but cast the crisis as a grave threat to Europe writ large, arguing that the West had an obligation to do more to prevent “a third world war.”
“Everybody needs to understand this is not some kind of donation Ukraine should be reminding or begging for, this is not just a broad gesture that Ukraine should be bowing down for — this is your contribution into the European and international security for which Ukraine has been serving as a shield for eight years now,” he said.
Zelensky called on NATO to specify a timeline for Ukraine’s possible membership in the alliance. He requested additional military support for Ukraine as well as preventive sanctions to Russia.
In an interview with CNN, Zelensky said any provocations in eastern Ukraine would be dangerous. He warned that “one shelling and one cannon fire could lead to war.”
Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines announced Saturday that all flights to the Ukrainian capital will be temporarily suspended as fears of a potential Russian strike mount.
The German airliner Lufthansa said in a news release that the company was suspending flights to and from Kyiv between Monday and Feb. 28.
“Lufthansa is constantly monitoring the situation and will decide on further flights at a later date,” the company said.
Austrian Airlines, which is part of the Lufthansa Group, noted that it was suspending flights to Kyiv from Sunday through the end of the month. According to the company, flights to Odessa will also be suspended in that time period. The announcements come just after Dutch airline KLM said that all flights to Ukraine would be cancelled until further notice.
Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines are still offering flights to Lviv, a western city close to the Polish border, according to Bloomberg News.
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials rejected claims it had fired artillery rounds onto Russian soil, saying the claims were part of false flag operations to justify an invasion. Russian state media said artillery had been fired across the border, and was landed in Rostov.
” We strongly refute any allegations that Ukrainian shells fell on Russian territory. Dmytro Kuneba, Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister said that Ukraine had never launched any of these fires. “We call for an immediate and impartial international investigation of the incidents reported by Russian media.”
Lt. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, said in a statement that the alleged shelling exceeded the reach of its artillery in the region.
” “The invaders themselves have destroyed infrastructure and carried out chaos shelling of settlements, as well as deliberately producing false reports,” Zaluzhnyi stated.
Russia’s Investigative Committee on Saturday opened a criminal investigation into what it called, without evidence, “the fact of shelling” in the Rostov region in southern Russia “from the territory of Ukraine.” Earlier, Interfax cited Rostov authorities stating they found two exploded shells near a village in the region.
Germany and France on Saturday urged their nationals to immediately leave Ukraine as tensions with Russia and shelling in Ukraine’s east increased. German Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that
“German citizens are being urged to flee the country. “A military confrontation is possible at any time.”
The statement warned that support for German nationals in Ukraine would be limited if Russia invades.
The French Foreign Ministry urged French citizens in Kharkiv and Luhansk to flee quickly. These are areas in east Ukraine where Russia-backed separatists have intensified their shelling in recent days. The French Foreign Ministry recommended people be more vigilant and not travel to the east or north of Ukraine. It also suggested that French citizens with no compelling reason to leave Ukraine should stay there.
France’s ambassador to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, last week urged French citizens in Ukraine to prepare a supply of water, food, warm clothing and fuel but said France was not “at this stage” asking all French residents of Ukraine to leave the country. The United States and Britain have already asked their citizens to flee Ukraine.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, condemned “the use of heavy weaponry and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas” in the contested east, they said in a statement Friday, calling the activity a “clear violation of the Minsk agreements.”
NOVOLUHANSKE, Ukraine — Outside the border city of Novoluhanske, Ukrainian army Brigade Commander Olexandr Zinevitch showed journalists where separatist forces have been pounding an abandoned industrial area with artillery in recent days.
Earlier Saturday, a 27-year-old Ukrainian private had been sprinting to shelter across the asphalt when he was knocked from his feet by a shell. Zinevitch said that he was going to lose his right hand, and flipped through photos of the injuries on his cellphone.
A civil fisherman was shot early in the morning. However, he wasn’t seriously hurt.
This area has been relatively quiet in recent years. There have been almost no shelling. Zinevitch believes that Russia is behind the recent Russian-led campaign. He sees artillery and mortar fires as proof of this.
Russia is trying to get Ukrainian forces to respond and give Russia an excuse for a large-scale attack. His troops were told not to react unless they are at risk.
” It is trying to get us into war by telling a lie. Zinevitch stated.
A few minutes later, as the group of journalists and the soldiers escorting them were pulling away in military vehicles, an artillery shell slammed into the ground 200 yards away.
As more shells were heard to the east, the leading vehicles raced away from the site. One man, who was tinkering in his pickup truck, ran on foot to safety. Soldiers rushed residents and journalists to the military blast shelter at the village’s entrance. They waited inside, unsure if the booms sounding every few minutes were the start of something even more
