“The Ukrainian crisis is a very serious threat to peace in Europe”: the words of the German Chancellor Scholz. Zelensky asks Biden to visit the country. Kiev to airlines: “Avoid the Black Sea”

The situation of the Ukrainian crisis has become “critical”. This was stated by a German government source, on the eve of the Chancellor’s visits to Kiev and Moscow Olaf Scholz, in anticipation for next Tuesday. “Our concern has grown” and “we think the situation is critical, very dangerous,” the source explained to reporters in Berlin. The head of the German executive sees the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as a “threat very, very serious about peace in Europe ”. He further stressed that if Russia were to invade Ukraine the Western sanctions would be “immediate”. And the German president Frank Walter SteinmeierIn his first speech after re-election, it was clear: “We are in the midst of a risk of military conflict, of a war in Eastern Europe, and it is Russia that is responsible. I appeal to President Putin: let him untie the noose around Ukraine’s neck. Join us on the road to the preservation of peace in Europe. And don’t underestimate the strength of democracy ”. Ukrainian President Zelensky met with the President of the EU Council Charles Michel: “We coordinated on further developments in and around Ukraine. The EU will respond with unity and firmness to any further military aggression from Russia. Solidarity with Ukraine ”, underlined Michel in a tweet. The Defense Minister of Kiev, Oleksii Reznikov, meanwhile, has made it known that he has received from Lithuania a supply of the Stinger anti-aircraft missile system. Also today, he added, two planes have delivered 180 tons of ammunition from the United States, for a total of about 1,500 tons received so far. An updated estimate of the Russian forces now located near the borders of Ukraine also arrives from Washington: over 130 thousand.

Biden and Zelensky on the phone – At 4.45 pm – Italian time – the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky he had a telephone conversation with the US president Joe Biden. According to White House, Biden “reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” and “clarified” that the US “will respond quickly and decisively, together with Allies and partners, to any further aggression against the country”. The two, compared for 51 minutes, “agreed on the importance of continuing to carry on diplomacy and deterrence in response to the military strengthening of Russia on the borders of Ukraine ”. Zelensky also asked the US president to pay a visit to Ukraine. CNN reports this, citing sources in Kiev, according to which the leader of the Ukrainian executive also asked for greater military and financial support.

Air space – Yesterday the day was particularly troubled and tense. The late afternoon phone call between Biden and the president Vladimir Putin it does not appear to have made progress for a situation that remains stalled and shrouded in uncertainty. To throw water on the fire it is Kiev, which continues to invite calm and to judge disproportionate the titles that are read in these hours. According to the Ukrainian government there is no reason to close its airspace. “It doesn’t make sense and it would look a lot like self-isolation,” he said Mykhailo Podolyakadvisor to the Ukrainian president, according to reports from the English newspaper Guardian. The decision was confirmed by the Kiev Transport Minister: “It remains open and the government is working to prevent risks for airlines”. In the past few hours, however, the Dutch Klm announced the suspension of all flights to Ukraine. On February 13, a flight from Madeira – in Portugal – and bound for Kiev landed in Moldova by decision of the company that operated it, SkyUp. In any case, Ukraine advised airlines to avoid flying over the waters of the Black Sea from Monday to Saturday next week due to the Russian naval exercises taking place there: reports the Guardian. “From tomorrow, airlines are advised not to fly to this area and to plan alternative routes in advance, taking into account the current situation”, this is the note from the Ukrainian state air traffic service. Meanwhile two American aircraft loads of war material destined for strengthen the Ukrainian defenses landed in Kiev. This was announced by the US embassy in Ukraine. The aid is “within the $ 200 million recently authorized outlay and includes ammunition and shoulder grenade launchers,” a Twitter statement read.

The withdrawal of the Osce observers – The withdrawal from Ukraine of the US and British observers of theOsce, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. A spokesman for the British Foreign Office quoted by Cnn he said that “In line with our responsibilities, we have taken the decision to withdraw our seconded observers from the OSCE SMM mission. We take the safety of our staff very seriously ”. Interviewed by Sunday Times the British Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace he likened Western diplomatic efforts to avert a Russian invasion of Ukraine to a deal with Nazi Germany before World War II. During the interview, the London minister said “there is an atmosphere reminiscent of Munich in some Western countries” referring to the conference held in the city of Bavaria in 1938 which handed over parts of the then Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler in an attempt , failed, to avoid the great conflict in Europe. Great Britain, together with the United States, is the country that has taken the most aggressive posture towards Moscow. Unlike France, Germany and Italy, much more inclined to dialogue. From Warsaw, the Minister of the Interior of the government – Mariusz Kaminski – made it known that Poland is preparing to welcome refugees in the event of an escalation. “These decisions can only cause the our serious concern“, The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the OSCE choice Maria Zakharova. The United States and Russia are accusing each other of wanting to create an accident in the Donbass at a time of very high tension. Meanwhile, the Special Monitoring Mission of the Security Organization has announced that it will carry out its mission in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in the region of Donbass (Eastern Ukraine) even if British and American observers decide to withdraw. “Although all the representatives of all countries will leave the office of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission a Donetsk, the work will continue, ”said a spokesperson for the Joint Center for Monitoring and Coordination on the ceasefire. In the meantime, Ukraine has requested a meeting within 48 hours with Russia and the other signatories of the Vienna Document on measures aimed at strengthening trust and security, signed between the OSCE countries, to discuss the crisis at the border. The foreign minister of Kiev, Dmitry Kuleba, wrote on Twitter.

The diplomatic path – Paris, after the interview between Emmanuel Marcon and Putin, has made it known that he had not had any indication from Moscow on the intention of an imminent invasion as instead proposed by the White House. Same prudent line signed by Ankara in the afternoon. Washington last night denied that the US submarine that Moscow had announced that it had intercepted in Russian territorial waters were actually located in maritime areas belonging to Moscow. After speaking with Japan and South Korea, the US secretary of state Antony Blink he said that the “via diplomatic remains open “ although the risks of armed conflict have grown. Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor of the White House, said in an interview with CNN that the United States and its allies are working on sanctions aimed at Russian oligarchs. “The way in which they have strengthened the military presence,” continued Sullivan, seems to indicate the “distinct possibility of military action at short. We are ready to continue the work of diplomacy, but we are also ready to respond in a united and decisive way with our allies ”. The spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova replied during the day, in an anticipation of the exclusive interview given to the correspondent in Moscow of Fourth Republic (aired February 14): “When we hear the White House and Downing Street statements that Russia intends to attack, we realize that only people who are crazy, who are crazy, who have no morals can declare it. and who make falsifications. We know what wars are and we know that there is nothing more precious than peace. Our country has never been an aggressor, it has never attacked, launching, starting the world wars ”.

The Olympic team – Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Olympic team present at the Beijing Games 2022 followed the example of Vladyslav Heraskevych, a skeleton athlete who displayed the ‘No War in Ukraine’ sign during his race, making “a unanimous call for peace” through a statement on social media: “Even though we are thousands of kilometers away from our homeland, mentally we are with our families and our friends “. The message does not explicitly mention Russia and the military situation in the country. The International Olympic Committee prohibits protest gestures during the Olympics but at the same time has no intention of taking action against the Ukrainian athlete because ‘no war’ “is a message we can all relate to,” said Christophe Dubi, executive director of the Olympic Games. “We all clearly want peace – the IOC spokesman Mark Adams underlined – The athletes themselves agreed that the races and the podium are not the place for any kind of message because we must remain politically neutral”. An ‘effort for peace’ is also requested by Pope Francis during the Angelus: “Let us pray in silence”.

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