Zelenskyy Seeks For ‘Air Shield’ Against Russian Missiles As G7 Vows Renewed Support For Ukraine
With the world's richest democracies promising to stand with Kyiv for "as long as it takes," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks for ‘air shield’. At a televised conference on Tuesday, Zelenskyy pleaded with the G7 leaders in a televised conference a day after Russia launched a missile attack on Ukrainian towns. After the meeting, the G7 published a unified statement in which they promised Ukraine "financial, humanitarian, military, political, and legal assistance... for as long as it takes." The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Author:Hajra ShannonReviewer:Paula M. GrahamOct 13, 202218 Shares18K Views
With the world's richest democracies promising to stand with Kyiv for "as long as it takes," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks for ‘air shield’.
At a televised conference on Tuesday, Zelenskyy pleaded with the G7 leaders in a televised conference a day after Russia launched a missile attack on Ukrainian towns. After the meeting, the G7 published a unified statement in which they promised Ukraine "financial, humanitarian, military, political, and legal assistance... for as long as it takes." The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
They vowed to "bring President Putin and others responsible to account" for their continued assaults on civilian populations. The leaders criticized Russia's recent nuclear posturing and helped Ukraine in its fight to get back territory that Moscow had taken.
The G7 issued a statement saying, "We regret purposeful Russian escalatory moves, including the partial mobilization of reservists and reckless nuclear rhetoric," which threatens international stability. We stress that Russia would face grave repercussions for any use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. "
The committee was vague about how they felt about Zelenskyy's desire for strengthened anti-air defenses. Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, said that the current threat of a nuclear attack in the conflict "does not at all allow any prediction."
For the last 77 years, international efforts to ban nuclear weapons have been going strong. Kishida, a native of Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese towns bombed by the United States in 1945, emphasized the need to maintain the country's longstanding policy of nuclear nonuse.
Uncontrolled Escalation
The United States, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States of America all said in a statement that they would continue providing "financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic, and legal support" to Ukraine "for as long as it takes."
Also, it called Mr. Putin's "indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations" war crimes for which he would be held accountable. Moscow says it is running a "special military operation" in Ukraine to eliminate dangerous nationalists and protect Russian speakers. It blames the West for making the conflict worse and lasting longer by supporting Kyiv.
“„We warn and hope that they realize the danger of uncontrolled escalation in Washington and other Western capitals.- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said
In the eyes of Kyiv and the countries that back it in the West, Russia has taken over land in Ukraine without any reason.
Belarus, Moscow's closest ally, has begun an exercise to assess its "combat readiness" after receiving orders on Monday to deploy troops with Russian forces near its border with Ukraine. Although Belarus gave Russia a foothold in its territory, it has not invaded Ukraine.
Mr. Zelenskyy told the G7 he wanted to make sure there was no threat from its northern neighbor. He called for a mission of international observers to monitor the border area, despite denying Minsk's claim that Ukraine planned to attack Belarus.
Since his forces started losing ground in early September, Mr. Putin has been under pressure from his own people to step up the war. On Monday, he said that he had ordered the strikes in response to an explosion that had damaged Russia's bridge to Crimea the weekend before.
Locals in Kyiv's capital city hid out for a second day on Tuesday beneath the city's metro, where trains were still operating.
On Monday, hundreds of people, including 35-year-old Viktoriya Moshkivski and her family, were at the Zoloti Vorota station, which is located close to a park where a missile ripped a crater next to a playground.
"To (Putin's) surprise, we are not frightened. He believes that if he terrifies the people, he can negotiate more favorable terms for himself. That guy really pisses us off," the mother of two young boys said as her sons, Timur, 5, and Rinat, 3, sat on a sleeping bag next to her, the younger playing with a King Kong action figure.
US Commits Air Defense Systems
White House sources say Vice President Joe Biden assured Zelenskyy this week that the United States will provide Ukraine with cutting-edge air defense systems. On Wednesday, U.S. Military Secretary Lloyd Austin will join defense chiefs from over 50 countries in Brussels for the Ukraine Defense Contact Group's sixth meeting since the group's formation in April to review the situation.
“„The air defense systems under consideration would include those that can counter so-called loitering munitions, which wait around an area and attack once a target is located. These include drones that Russia recently obtained from Iran.- Becca Wasser, senior fellow in the military program at the Center for New American Security
“„To ensure that, frankly, Ukraine can have better control of its airspace, not only for some of its military operations but to assure that it won't actually have some of these attacks on civilians and on some critical infrastructure.- Becca Wasser said
White House officials would not say if the long-range Patriot air defense system, which can fight tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and modern aircraft, is among the options being considered for Kyiv.
On Monday, at least 19 people were killed by 84 cruise missiles and 24 drones. Moscow said the strikes were in retaliation for an assault the previous day on a bridge between Russia and Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula unlawfully taken by Moscow in 2014. Even though Ukraine hasn't said for sure that its security agents were behind the bridge truck bombing, it has hinted that they were.
Additional Western military help for Ukraine, according to Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, might lead to escalation and perhaps a potential war between Russia and NATO.
Biden And G7 Leaders Pledge Continued Support For Ukraine Amid Increased Russian Attacks
Final Words
On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was willing to talk to Western nations about Ukraine but that he had not received any proposals for meetings. In an interview aired on state TV, Lavrov stated that the United States was open to talks but Russia had declined. He cited White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby as an example.
Moscow's foreign minister said that they would at least think about a plan for Putin and Biden to meet at the G20 summit in November. Lavrov said Moscow was open to suggestions about having talks between Russia and the West in Turkey, but he could not guarantee any outcomes.
Hajra Shannon
Author
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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