1/5/22
By WarNews 24/7
Translated from Greek

Global concern over Foreign Policy analysis of Biden's strategy in Ukraine that could lead to even World War III.

In a dramatic turn of events this week, US President Joe Biden and his NATO allies have stepped up their policy of helping to defend Ukraine from Russian aggression, with a policy of undermining its own power and influence...

In doing so, some observers fear, leaving Russian President Vladimir Putin with little choice but to surrender or double his military strength, increasing the likelihood of the war extending beyond Ukraine, according to a Foreign Policy analysis.

On Thursday, Biden called on Congress to approve $ 33 billion in additional military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine - more than double the previous amount - and said he was sending a clear message to Putin: "I will not "Do you ever manage to dominate Ukraine? " In addition, Biden told the White House, the new policy was aimed at "punishing Russian aggression and reducing the risk of future conflicts."

This was followed by an equally clear statement this week from US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who, following a meeting in Kiev with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, stated that the US goal now is to reduce its power. Russia in the long run, so that it does not have the "ability to reproduce" its military attack on Ukraine. "We want to see Russia weaken to the point where it can not do what it did with the invasion of Ukraine ," said Austin of Poland.

The move may have prompted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to declare that Washington and the West have entered into a "proxy" war with Russia, risking another world war, which, as Lavrov warned, it could take nuclear form. "The danger is serious, real. "We must not underestimate him ," Lavrov said.

In addition, Putin has hinted again this week, as he has been doing since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, that he still has the potential to use nuclear weapons against NATO, saying: "We have all the means to do that. (s.s. to respond to an immediate threat against Russia), those for which no one else can boast. And we will use them, if necessary "...

George Beebe, the former head of Russia's CIA analysis, said the Biden administration was in danger of forgetting that "the United States's most important national interest is to avoid a nuclear conflict with Russia."

He added that "the Russians have the ability to ensure that everyone else loses, if they lose too...

Perhaps the most troubling turn of events is that there no longer seems any possibility of a way out of the war through negotiations - despite Putin's statement to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that he still hopes for such a solution.

"It is one thing to pursue a policy of weakening Putin and another to say it out loud. "We have to find a way for Putin to reach a political solution...

"It is becoming more and more dangerous," said Charles Kupchan, a former senior US official and now an international relations researcher at Georgetown University...

Or, as Beebe put it, "we must find a way to discreetly convey to the Russians that we would be willing to ease sanctions in the context of an international settlement."..

However, any such negotiation seems less likely than ever. Both sides seem to be ready for a long battle. After meeting with Putin and Lavrov on Tuesday, Guterres acknowledged that an immediate ceasefire was not on paper and that the war "will not end with meetings."

Just a month ago, Zelensky was circulating the idea of ​​a neutral Ukraine, which would not join NATO, and proposed recognizing separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. However, Zelensky has since told European Council President Charles Michel that, in light of the Russian atrocities, Ukrainian public opinion was opposed to the negotiations and was in favor of continuing the war.

Finland and Sweden, meanwhile, have said they are interested in joining the NATO alliance, violating a long-standing policy of neutrality and possibly creating a new environment that will cause a rift along Russia's northern border. This would be a devastating blow to Putin...

And there is not much prospect that any of these tensions will diminish any time soon. Austin also convened a 40-nation "Contact Group for Ukraine" this week..

As part of a Kremlin policy known as the " escalation of de-escalation" - threatening to launch a nuclear attack if the West tries to stop it - Putin is reinstating nuclear weapons in his conventional war calculations.
During his two decades in power, he has approved the construction of Cruz nuclear-powered missiles, nuclear-armed cruise missiles, supersonic sliding vehicles and more low-performance nuclear weapons on the European continent.

.. Until the crisis in Ukraine, those planning the US strategy did not see the development of nuclear weapons by Moscow as a credible threat. Most believe Putin will escalate, first, using cyber-attacks or other non-nuclear capabilities.

Many experts also say they do not believe the Russian president would benefit greatly from the use of regular nuclear weapons inside Ukraine - and that he is considered rational enough to never consider launching intercontinental ballistic missiles with US nuclear weapons.

But Putin has also indicated in the past that he can not accept the separation of an independent Ukraine from Russian control, writing in an essay in July 2021 that such a development would be "comparable in its consequences to the use of weapons of mass destruction against us ".

Robert Galuchi, a former senior US nuclear negotiator, said the Russian nuclear threat was a new tactic and "should be taken seriously...

Beebe, who is now director of high strategy at the Quincy Institute, said he believed the result was likely to lead to an unstable stalemate - which could well be more volatile and dangerous than most of the Cold War. "It is more likely that we will end up in some kind of.. unstable confrontation, .. where there are no rules in the game," he explained...

This, in turn, raises the prospect of a protracted global Cold War, not only with Russia but also with China. And it's a war that could easily escalate, Beebe said, with the United States and its allies facing an alliance "of a resource-rich Russia, working with a technologically and economically strong China."
(excerpts)

Source:
https://warnews247.gr/pagkosmia-anisychia-i-taktiki-bainten-stin-oukrania-borei-na-odigisei-se-g-pagkosmio-polemo/