A Russian offensive is concentrated in the east of the country, but without weakening the offensive against civilian targets: the United States believes that the war in Ukraine is entering a new phase, demanding a new response from the West.
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Jack Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, appeared before the press on Monday, just as he had already done just before Russia began its invasion on February 24, and Americans were wondering what the Russian military’s next moves would be.
According to him, Russia is “in the process of re-establishing its forces to concentrate its offensive in parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.” He said he had “tried and failed to submit the whole of Ukraine,” adding that he hoped this new phase would “last for months or more.”
According to Washington, “Moscow will continue airstrikes and missile strikes on other parts of the country to inflict military and economic damage and, more clearly, sow terrorism.”
Obstacles and weapons
US President Joe Biden has pledged “additional sanctions” against Russia as images of numerous bodies in a town on the outskirts of Kiev, recently captured by Ukrainian forces, provoke international opposition.
Jake Sullivan said they would be announced “this week” and stressed the need for a “consensus” with the EU on its role in discussing “urgent” new economic retaliation against Moscow.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blingen will also travel to Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday to attend NATO and G7 meetings.
After already announcing a number of measures, the West has no choice but to launch a major offensive against Russia’s energy sales to Europe.
Beyond sanctions, Jack Sullivan promised Ukraine “additional announcements of additional military assistance in the coming days”, noting that the equipment could come from the United States or be shipped from other countries.
He spoke without elaborating on “long-range air defense systems, artillery systems and coastal defense systems”, but promised that the supply of weapons and equipment to the Ukrainian military would take place “at an unprecedented pace.”
In addition to the economy and the military, the Americans believe the answer to Russia should be the judiciary.
“War Crimes”
“We need to gather information” and “keep all the details” to conduct an investigation into war crimes, Joe Biden said when asked about the events in Bautista on Monday.
“You may remember I was criticized for calling Putin a ‘war criminal. True (…) he is a war criminal,” he said.
Jake Sullivan said the International Criminal Court – of which the United States is not a member – considers war crimes to be “one of the places” where war crimes are investigated, but “other means”.
The National Security Adviser added: “We have seen atrocities, war crimes, and attacks on the lives of the Ukrainian people to the point of genocide. But we are constantly monitoring it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Gelensky on Monday accused Russian forces of committing “war crimes” that would be “recognized as genocide.”
Moscow, for its part, has denied killing civilians in Boutcha, and the Kremlin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have taken to the stage to incite “lies”.
