Joe Biden to Moscow: "Don't even think about entering NATO territory"
"Putin cannot stay in power". This is how US President Joe Biden addressed the Polish population during his official visit from Warsaw. In front of the Royal Castle in the Ukrainian capital, Biden blamed Putin for "strangling democracy" and reiterated, with conviction, his support for Ukraine with a resounding "We are with you. Full stop.
However, US support for Ukraine remains highly calibrated. Biden reminds that US and NATO military forces deployed in Europe are "to defend allies" and not to fight on Ukrainian territory. This situation also reflects Biden's own threats to Russia: "don't even think of entering NATO territory", he warned in his speech, something that if it were to happen could put us in a worst-case scenario.
European and American ranks remain within NATO territory, acting in a defensive manner, as one of the transatlantic organisation's basic principles states. Even so, assistance to Kiev continues assiduously in the form of military arsenal, humanitarian and economic aid. "The gravity of this challenge is why the Western response has been so powerful," Biden said in his speech.
The US president went on to list the many sanctions adopted by both the United States and Europe, which have been implemented in order to "strike at the heart of the Russian economy" and "punish" the oligarchs who are responsible for sustaining the Moscow government.
As Ukraine continues to suffer incessant attacks by Russian troops, demonstrating exemplary resilience, caution calls for international powers. A miscalculated move, a troop movement that Moscow considers a threat, or any move that is seen as a direct attack on Russia, could have serious consequences. Russia, which possesses the world's largest nuclear arsenal, has not given up on Ukraine and despite losing ground, does not look set to do so.
However, Moscow has announced its new military strategy. The Russian army, punished and damaged by Ukraine's strong resistance, will now focus on the Donbas, and military attacks will be reduced in the rest of the country. If this new strategy is implemented, it could confirm that Russia has not lost the war, but it is not winning it either. The reduction of its offensives would show that Moscow has failed to achieve its main objectives, something that would have been very different had it not been for Ukrainian resistance, always encouraged by a tireless Volodimir Zelensky.
It is this same Zelensky who continues to demand international help. He asks the West to close Ukraine's airspace and warns that he himself "is Russia's main target". Even so, the Ukrainian president is not intimidated and continues to be the protagonist of all international forums, meetings and summits, which he attends virtually as long as he does not leave Kiev.
Despite the fact that Western aid is notable in economic, military and humanitarian terms, it has not been able to save the lives of the civilian population. According to the UN, more than a thousand civilians have died since the beginning of the Russian invasion, as well as 1,700 confirmed civilian casualties, a figure that could rise as the hours go by.
In this situation and according to UNICEF, a total of 4.3 million children have left the country out of the 7.5 million in the country. This figure is the highest since the Second World War and both the UN and UNICEF warn that "it is imperative to stop the war". They also condemn the attacks on 64 hospitals and shelters, as well as on more than 500 educational facilities.
"If there is a hell on earth, it is surely Mariupol," say humanitarian organisations. Mariupol, already considered a symbol of the war's disaster, has been completely destroyed by shelling and remains one of Russia's most important targets.
Although Moscow has promised to focus on the "liberation of the Donbas", Mariupol remains under siege, suffering one of the most serious scenarios of the entire conflict. According to the General Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, "there is an increase in terror towards the local population by the occupants" but this has not helped Moscow to stop its offensives. According to the Azov Battalion, they claim that Russia has already killed more than 3,000 civilians in the shelling of the Mariupol theatre attack.
Civilians in Mariupol continue to suffer the ravages of shelling as well as in cities such as Lviv, where they have reported a new air attack from Russia, where at least three shells have exploded, according to the mayor, Andri Sadovi.
Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra
