NATO is ＂pressing hard＂, and Putin is the first to mention ＂military response＂ to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis!
[Global Times reporter Zhang Guangzheng, Tan Wujun, Ren Zhong, Liu Zhi] Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the 21 ST that Russia has "no retreat" because of NATO’s "step by step". If the West continues to do so, Russia will respond with "military technical measures." Putin also mentioned that if the United States deploys hypersonic weapons in Ukraine, Moscow will be within its five-minute range. Many analysts believe that this is the first time that Putin mentioned or responded to the current Russian-Ukrainian crisis by military means, and it is the first time that Putin hinted that a conflict may break out. "After holding a video conference with Biden, Putin made a rather harsh speech against the West for the first time." The Russian Pravda commented like this. Since mid-November, the United States has repeatedly warned that Moscow may be planning to "invade" Ukraine and threatened to impose "unprecedented" sanctions on Russia. Russia denied it, and at the same time showed a "red line" to the West and proposed a security guarantee initiative. Judging from the current situation, the two sides are far from reaching a conclusion, and Ukraine will continue to be the eye of the storm in this crisis.
Putin: We have no retreat.
"Since the 1990s, NATO ‘ Step by step ’ The situation is getting worse and worse … … What the United States is doing in Ukraine is at our doorstep, and they should understand that we have no way to retreat. Do they think we will stand by? " Putin said at the ministerial meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense that if western counterparts continue their aggressive line, Russia will take "appropriate military technical measures" and respond severely to unfriendly measures.
According to the press release issued by Russian President Dmitry official website, Putin said that the large-scale exercises held by US and NATO troops near the Russian border are a serious concern. Mk— that the United States has deployed in Romania; The 41 launcher is suitable for Tomahawk attack systems, and these systems are also planned to be deployed in Poland. If such military infrastructure appears in Ukraine, the time for them to arrive in Moscow will be reduced to 7-mdash; 10 minutes, if hypersonic weapons are deployed, it will only take 5 minutes.
Putin also stressed that he did not want the situation to develop in the direction of armed conflict and bloodshed and hoped to solve the problem through political and diplomatic channels. He reiterated his demand that the United States and its allies make a long-term and legally binding guarantee that NATO will not expand eastward, including not deploying missiles and troops in Ukraine. On the same day, Putin also telephoned French President Macron and German Chancellor Scholz respectively, and discussed the draft Russian-US security treaty and the agreement on security measures between Russia and NATO members.
Regarding Putin’s "military technical measures", Reuters and other media said that Russian leaders did not specify them, but Russian diplomats had warned that Russia might redeploy medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe.
"Putin said that Russia has ‘ There is no retreat ’ 。” The US CNBC website said on the 22nd that Moscow wandered between harsh words, calling for dialogue and issuing terrible warnings, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov repeatedly compared this situation to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
According to RIA Novosti, kiselev, president of Russian international news agency today, said recently that if the west crosses the "red line" designated by Moscow, Russia will be 100% prepared to use force to respond, and the Cuban missile crisis will repeat itself. "If Ukraine joins NATO or NATO builds military facilities in Ukraine, then we will aim our guns at the temples of the United States. We have such military technical capabilities, and Russia has the best weapon in the world — — Hypersonic weapon.
"U.S. studies export controls on Russia.
Western media generally believe that Putin’s remarks on Tuesday are "tougher." The Wall Street Journal said that Putin’s attitude has not softened. He blamed the deterioration of relations on the United States and Europe and ordered the further development of Russian armed forces and weapons and equipment. France Radio International believes that part of Putin’s speech seems to provide reasons for Russia to launch new military operations in Ukraine.
The website of CBS said that Putin had previously talked about his "red line" on the Ukrainian issue and asked the United States to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. He once accused the West of crossing the "red line", but the stern warning in Tuesday’s speech marked the first time that he personally warned of "possible military action". Germany’s new foreign minister Berber said on the 22nd that Berlin was "very concerned" about Putin’s latest remarks.
Russian Defense Minister shoigu’s speech at the meeting on 21st was also reported by many media. Shoygu said that an American private military contractor was operating in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, and was prepared to use chemical weapons to create trouble. At present, more than 120 American mercenaries have gathered to set up shooting ranges, plan military operations and train Ukrainian radical armed groups. US Defense Department spokesman Kirby denied this.
However, according to the British "Times" on the 22nd, the United States and Britain have sent experts to Kiev to deal with any cyber attacks launched by Russia on Ukrainian power grid and other infrastructure. American intelligence agencies believe that the Kremlin may order a hacking attack to make Ukrainian leaders look incompetent. A British government spokesman said the help was purely defensive. At the same time, the United States recently sent a team of defense analysts to assess Ukraine’s air and missile defense needs, and the team has returned.
Recently, Uzbek President Zelensky has intensively communicated with leaders of the United States, Britain, Germany, France, the European Union and NATO, calling for preventive sanctions against Russia. On the 21st, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister stephanie Hina said that NATO will hold its first cyber security exercise in Ukraine early next year. On the same day, the Kiev city government said that the city will conduct air defense warning drills regularly. Krichko, the mayor of Kiev, said earlier that he had made the worst plan to deal with "aggression". The municipal government has about 5,000 shelters and is recruiting reservists to participate in national defense.
According to Reuters’s report on the 22nd, the United States is considering strict export control measures to disrupt the Russian economy when Russia invades Ukraine. According to US government sources, in addition to imposing economic sanctions, the White House is discussing restricting the export of smart phones, key aircraft and auto parts and many other industrial materials to Russia. These potential measures are unprecedented for Russia and follow Trump’s policy towards China and Huawei, which may have a significant impact on Russian consumers, industrial operations and employment.
Ukrainian people do not believe that Russia will "fully invade"
The reporter of Global Times in Ukraine noticed that, unlike the nervousness of senior officials, the local people were generally calm, and most people thought that this crisis was just the usual method of "extreme pressure" in Russia, aiming at forcing the West to make concessions. The supply in the Ukrainian market remained stable, and there was no snapping up in supermarkets and shopping malls. Since the beginning of this year, despite two border crises, the exchange rate of Uzbekistan’s currency has been firm, and even slightly appreciated compared with the beginning of the year.
An expert on Russian issues at the Center for Economic and Political Studies in Razumukov, Ukraine, told the Global Times reporter that Ukraine is the eye of the storm in this military crisis, but the real protagonists of this drama are the United States and Russia. "Ukraine has unfortunately become a hostage of the US-Russia game. It’s like two strong men fighting. One of them grabbed a weak person around him as a hostage, put a gun on the forehead of the hostage, and coerced the other strong man to make concessions. "
"Because of the recent warning from the United States, the world suddenly began to speculate whether Russia would invade Ukraine again." The US political news network said on the 21st that in Ukraine, people pay less attention to the "all-round invasion" and are more worried that Moscow will never relax its control over large areas of Donetsk and Lugansk. The Kremlin reiterated a series of demands to the West last week. In some people’s eyes, this is a signal that the military "invasion" of Ukraine is to create influence and a means to achieve greater geopolitical goals.
The BBC reported that western intelligence agencies and Ukraine believed that the "invasion" might happen at some time in early 2022, but people did not feel the imminent threat. Russia’s troop increase near the Ukrainian border may be just a gesture, trying to keep NATO away from Russia’s backyard. Russia also hopes that NATO will abandon its military activities in Eastern Europe. In short, it wants NATO to return to its pre-1997 borders.
On the 22nd, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Russia and the United States will hold the first round of negotiations on security protection early next year. The day before, US Secretary of State Blinken said that he expected to hold talks with Russia in January next year. He called on Russia to reduce its military presence near the Ukrainian border and create a suitable atmosphere for the talks.
Agence France-Presse said that Washington also warned Moscow that some demands made by Russia were "unacceptable". When asked whether the sanctions may include completely cutting off Russia’s connection with the SWIFT (Society for Global Banking Financial Telecommunications) international payment network, US officials said that nothing is impossible.