Shipment of U.S. arms
arrives in Ukraine, January 24, 2022 (D. O'Brien)
The U.S. and some of its allies have been ramping up
shipments of lethal armaments to Ukraine to fuel the crisis within that
country and to provoke conflict with Russia. The increased arms
shipments took place when U.S. Secretary of State Blinken was in Geneva
on January 21, allegedly to discuss de-escalating the Ukraine crisis
with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The
Biden administration handed over five Russian-made Mi-17 transport
helicopters, already in Ukraine for servicing, to the Ukrainian
government. The U.S. has already begun the transfer of some $200
million in ammunition and other military hardware to Ukraine. This
includes delivery of eight shipments of hundreds of tons of lethal
weapons, including hundreds of Lockheed Martin shoulder-fired Javelin
anti-tank missiles, launchers and other supplies. Another $500 million
in lethal weapons and spyware is in the works. The transfer of
U.S.-made military hardware from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia to
Ukraine was also approved.
Included in
the arms shipments are artillery reconnaissance systems, signals
intelligence, electronic warfare systems and drones, a shipment of
anti-tank missile systems from Britain, as well as counter artillery
radar, ammunition and patrol boats.
All this lethal
weaponry in the hands of Ukrainian armed forces, and particularly the
neo-Nazi militias like the Azov Battalion and others, is for committing
aggression against Ukraine's own citizens and to drown the Ukrainian
civil conflict in blood, rather than sorting out problems by putting
the interests of the people for a peaceful solution at the centre of
concerns. It is to whip up divisions among Ukrainians, targeting
citizens of Russian ethnic origin in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions
which border on Russia. It is also to drag Ukraine into U.S.
provocations and aggression against Russia.
Notably,
among other U.S. allies and NATO members, there is not unanimity about
the U.S. gunboat diplomacy. Germany, for example, blocked the transfer
of German-made weapons from Estonia to Ukraine.
A
space for actual diplomacy exists to ensure there is no further
bloodshed and that the conflict is resolved without recourse to
military force. This was underscored by the head of the German Navy,
Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach. He resigned on January 22
after making public statements against fueling conflict between Ukraine
and Russia. "The Crimea Peninsula is gone," he said. "It will never
come back -- this is a fact." He also called for respect for Russia's
concerns raised by President Putin. He said: "Giving someone respect is
low cost, even no cost. ... It is easy to give him the respect he
really demands -- and probably also deserves."
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 2 - February 6, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2022/Articles/M520029.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
