The US president’s commitment to “further defense co-operation” is said to have been made during a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba in Warsaw on Saturday. The Biden government has already provided $ 1 billion worth of deadly military weapons, including Javelin Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems and light anti-tank weapons. Volodmyr Zelenskiy has pressed the United States to also facilitate the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland, but the White House has not yet been convinced by the Ukrainian president’s arguments, fearing an escalation of the conflict. The Kremlin had hinted on Friday that it could limit its military ambitions, saying it was close to completing the “first phase” of its military campaign and would now focus on the full “liberation” of Donbass in eastern Ukraine. Speaking to the Guardian, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Zelenskiy and chief negotiator in talks with Russia, said he did not believe the Kremlin was undermining its war goals. “They had poor business planning and realized that it was beneficial for them to encircle cities, cut off the main supply routes and force people there to run short of food, water and medicine,” he said, describing the siege of Mariupol. as a sperm tactic of psychological terror and exhaustion. However, Podolyak expressed skepticism about the Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that Moscow forces will now focus mainly on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. “Of course I do not believe it. They have no interests in Donbass. “Their main interests are Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and the south – to occupy Mariupol and close the Sea of Azov; we see them regrouping and preparing more troops for the mission,” he said. Earlier on Saturday, the Kremlin again raised the issue of the use of nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and vice-president of the Security Council, said Moscow could strike at an enemy using only conventional weapons, while Putin’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said nuclear readiness was “ready.” . Biden, who is scheduled to deliver a keynote address later Saturday, met with Kuleba and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov in this first meeting between the US president and the Ukrainian leadership since the start of the war. a month ago. . Joe Biden: Poland has taken on “significant responsibility” to receive Ukrainian refugees – video The United States has expressed “unwavering commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. Kuleba told reporters that Ukraine had received commitments from Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to develop defense cooperation. “We have received additional promises from the United States on how our defense cooperation will develop,” Kuleba said. “President Biden said that what is happening in Ukraine will change the history of the 21st century and we will work together to ensure that this change is in our favor, in Ukraine, in the democratic world.” In a speech later Saturday, the White House said Biden would “comment on the United Nations’ efforts to support the people of Ukraine, to hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and to defend a rooted future.” in democratic principles “. . The meeting with the Ukrainian politicians took place at the Marriott Hotel in Warsaw in the city center – opposite the main train station, where there is a continuous flow of Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the conflict. In some comments Saturday, Biden said Poland was taking a “significant” responsibility in the humanitarian crisis and that people should help reduce weight. Biden held three days of meetings with allies in the G7, Europe and NATO in recent days and visited US troops in Poland on Friday. He met with Polish President Andrei Duda on Saturday.
