Eastern Europe has been in turmoil as escalating tensions came to a head earlier this week, with Russia launching their invasion of Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden announced sanctions on Tuesday, including financial sanctions on Russian banks. A state of emergency is set to take effect in the Ukraine in upcoming days, and the Ukraine military is said to be enlisting males between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five in order to respond to what is now being described as a Russian invasion of the country.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba appeared on Fox News program, Special Report with Bret Baier Tuesday night. He discussed meetings this week with President Biden, and Kuleba shared that Biden promised to provide weapon shipments to the Ukraine, upon being questioned by Baier. Kuleba shared that such a guarantee “should be moved on quickly” in light of the uncertainly of Russia’s intentions.
Kuleba told Baier, “The problem is that we don’t have a clear understanding of Putin’s timeline . . . so the only solution under these circumstances is to act swiftly.”
During his time on Baier’s program, Kuleba added that the Ukraine “has never asked the United States to send troops to the Ukraine,” and he said the only weapons that the Ukrainian government requested from the United States are “defensive weapons.”
Kuleba’s comments come at a time when President Biden has already labeled the escalating tensions in Eastern Europe as “an invasion,” and diplomatic solutions seem to have been thrown out the proverbial window. A meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken intended to take place on Thursday has been canceled by the Biden Administration. The White House is also warning American businesses to be prepared for a Russian cyberattack. Rumors hold that Russia has already carried out a cyberattack on the Ukraine, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
As Russian troops continue to spill over the Ukrainian border, a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Joe Biden appears to be cancelled as well.
On Monday, Putin took to Russian television where he signed decrees stating that two regions in the Ukraine (home to the Russian-backed separatists rebels who’ve fought with Ukrainians for eight years and caused a total of 14,000 deaths) were now “independent.” Putin followed the announcement of the decrees with then moving Russian troops across the Ukrainian border in what he has deemed a “peacekeeping” mission. Putin’s move has drawn international criticism. Both the United States as well as members of the European Union have placed sanctions on Russian. One of these was by Germany, who has refused to certify the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Putin’s speech on Monday not only alluded to a Ukrainian invasion, but it also inferred that the Ukraine really has no right to consider themselves an independent country. Kuleba told Baier on Tuesday, “The main narrative of Vladimir Putin is simple and horrifying . . Putin does not believe Ukraine has a right to exist.”
Kuleba said that the Ukrainians intend to fight for their “land and their people.” Kuleba was questioned whether Americans should support the Ukraine, and Kuleba said”it’s a matter of America keeping its promises.” Kuleba reminded Baier that Ukraine abandoned its nuclear weapons as a part of a security guarantee promised by the United States. Kuleba also inferred that an American refusal to help support the Eastern European country would “have far-ranging implications for the rest of the West . . .allowing Putin to invade Ukraine without consequence will embolden the Russian leader in the future.”
Kuleba also inferred that other leaders across the world could see a lack of action in the Ukraine by America as an invitation to “challenge the United States.”
