https://ift.tt/qyNPl6e. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “never imagined the whole world would rally behind Ukraine so swiftly and surely,” as the United States convened a meeting of more than 40 countries to coordinate security assistance for Ukraine.
As he opened the talks at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Austin said the aim was to both “help Ukraine to win the fight against Russia’s unjust invasion and to help build up Ukraine for tomorrow’s challenges.”
The meeting follows a trip by Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Kyiv where they pledged more military assistance for Ukraine and to continue to rally other nations to contribute.
“Russia’s invasion is indefensible and so are Russian atrocities,” Lloyd said Tuesday. “We all start today from a position of moral clarity. Russia is waging a war of choice to indulge the ambitions of one man. Ukraine is fighting a war of necessity to defend its democracy its sovereignty and its citizens.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned of the danger that the conflict could erupt into World War III, saying Monday that “NATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy.”
“The danger is serious, it is real, you can’t underestimate it,” he told the Interfax news agency.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba later tweeted that Russia had lost its “last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine.”
“This only means Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine,” Kuleba said. “Therefore, the world must double down on supporting Ukraine so that we prevail and safeguard European and global security.”
U.N. Secretary-General was set to meet with Putin and Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday as part of a diplomatic push that includes a scheduled visit to Kyiv on Thursday.
“Ultimately, the end goal is to have a halt to fighting and to have ways to improve the situation of the people in Ukraine, lessen the threat that they’re under and provide humanitarian aid towards them,” Guterres spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters ahead of the talks.
Britain’s defense ministry said Tuesday that Russian forces are “likely attempting to encircle heavily fortified Ukrainian positions” in eastern Ukraine. A ministry statement said the eastern city of Kreminna “has reportedly fallen” and that Russian forces are moving toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Russian attacks Monday hit rail and fuel installations far from the front line of its eastern offensive.
The chief of the state-run Ukrainian Railways said five railway facilities were hit early in central and western Ukraine, including a missile attack near the western city of Lviv. At least five people were killed by Russian strikes in the central Vynnytsia region, Ukrainian authorities said.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Author webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Source : VOA