Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia has suspended its participation in the Russian-American New START nuclear disarmament treaty, and US President Joe Biden stressed that Russia will never win the war in Ukraine. Using anti-Western vitriol, Putin also vowed ” methodically” to continue its military offensive in Ukraine.
Putin emphasized that the West wants to “inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, that is, completely eliminate us,” making Washington and its European allies “responsible for fueling the Ukrainian conflict and (falling) its victims.”
For his part, the US president delivered a long-awaited speech in Warsaw after his visit to Kyiv on Monday, during which he promised to provide the Ukrainians with more weapons.
“Our support for Ukraine will not weaken. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia… Never (…) Ukraine will remain free,” Biden stressed, emphasizing the “iron will of the United States.”
The US President emphasized that “the West is not plotting an attack on Russia, as Putin said today,” and “millions of Russian citizens only want to live in peace with their neighbors, and not with the enemy.”
He explained that Putin “thought authoritarians like him were strong and democratic leaders weak, but he faced the iron will of the United States and countries around the world that refused to accept a world ruled by fear.”
He added: “Let it be clear that our support for Ukraine will not weaken and NATO will not be divided or weary.”
On the same day, European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said that the bloc’s member countries would rely on their stockpiles to speed up the supply of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.
But Putin’s speech had a big impact, especially since he announced a suspension of Moscow’s participation in the latest arms control treaty between the world’s two largest nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, and threatened to conduct new nuclear tests if Washington did so. first.
“They want to inflict a strategic defeat on us and attack our nuclear facilities, and for this reason I am forced to announce that Russia is suspending its participation in the (new) START treaty,” the Russian president said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry softened the statement, emphasizing in a statement that “Russia intends to take a responsible approach and will continue to strictly comply with the quantitative limitations of strategic offensive weapons provided for in the Treaty.”
This agreement, signed in 2010, is the latest bilateral agreement of its kind linking the two powers. In early August, Russia announced it was suspending planned US inspections of its military installations as part of the agreement, stressing that the move was in response to American obstruction of Russian inspections in the US.
Putin urged Russian troops to be “ready to test nuclear weapons” if the US does so first.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday that Russia’s decision to suspend the nuclear arms reduction treaty with Washington was “highly regrettable and irresponsible,” but stressed that the US remained open to dialogue on the issue.
France stressed that the New START treaty constituted a “basic agreement” for strategic stability, while London stressed that arms control was “vital” to security and the NATO Secretary General “deplored” Russia’s decision.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, stressed that a world in which nuclear weapons are not controlled “will be more dangerous.”
And after Putin confirmed that his goal was to ensure Russia’s “security”, he vowed to achieve the goals of this attack “step by step, carefully and systematically,” even though Russian forces have suffered a number of military setbacks in recent months.
“But they must know that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield,” he added.
During his speech, Russian troops bombed buildings in Kherson, southern Ukraine, killing at least five civilians, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russia had been “mercilessly” killing civilians in Kherson.
Footage released after the strike shows bodies, one of which has been shaded to hide them, next to a destroyed bus stop and supermarket.
Commenting on international sanctions against his country, Putin felt that the West “has achieved nothing and will achieve nothing,” given that the Russian economy has resisted more than expected.
Pointing to the possible intensification of internal repression that would accompany the military offensive, Putin said: “Those who decide to betray Russia must be held accountable before the law.”
Putin repeated his words condemning the “perversion” of the United States and Europe, accusing Western countries of “taking deviance and child abuse leading to sexual abuse (…) as a standard.”
Even before Putin’s speech was over, the White House denounced the “absurdity” of anti-Western rhetoric.
On the other hand, this week Western officials expressed concern about the possibility that China, a Russian ally, would hand over weapons to Moscow, which Beijing denied.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has arrived in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, China called for “strengthening dialogue” in Ukraine, saying it was “extremely concerned” by the conflict, “which is escalating and even spiraling out of control.”
