:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/3YHBVD3PVRBZTBGMIG3ZYPFYTU.jpg "Russia Warns Sending Powerful Weapons To Ukraine Would Cause ‘Global Catastrophe’")
The speaker of the Russian Parliament warned on Sunday that countries that supply Ukraine more powerful weapons risk being destroyed, a message that followed new promises of armored vehicles, air defense systems and other equipment requested by kyiv.
“The supply of offensive weapons to the kyiv regime would lead to a global catastrophe”said the chairman of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin. “If Washington and NATO supply weapons that can be used to attack peaceful cities and try to seize our territory as they threaten to do, this would trigger a retaliation with more powerful weapons,” the Russian lawmaker added.
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supporters of Ukraine pledged billions of dollars in military aid Friday at an international meeting in Ramstein, Germanybut the defense chiefs could not agree on the Ukrainian request to have German battle tanks Leopard 2.
Germany is one of the main arms donors to Ukraine and ordered a review of its stocks of Leopard 2, in case of a possible authorization. However, Berlin has shown caution in increasing its commitments to Ukraine.
This reluctance has drawn strong criticism, particularly from Poland and the Baltic States, which feel especially threatened by the renewed imperialist ambitions of Russia.
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In Washington, two top lawmakers urged the United States on Sunday to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine.in order to overcome Germany’s reluctance to share its Leopard 2.
“If we announced that we would give out an Abrams tank, just one, that would trigger” the flow of tanks from Germany, Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told ABC’s “This Week on Sunday.” “What I heard is that Germany is waiting for us to take the lead.”
For his part, Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and considered close to the president Joe Bidenalso pronounced in favor of the United States sending Abrams tanks.
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“I am concerned that Russia is rearming and preparing for a spring offensive”Coons said. “If you require us to send some Abrams tanks to unlock the leopard from Germany, from Poland, from other allies, I would support that.”
For his part, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Security Council of Russiasaid the meeting in Ramstein “he left no doubt that our enemies will try to exhaust us or better destroy us”adding that “they have enough weapons” to achieve the purpose.
Medvedevwho was also president of Russia, He also warned that Russia could seek to form a military alliance with enemies of the United States. He did not name the nations he had in mind, but Moscow has defense ties with Iran, Venezuela, Belarus and North Korea, and since it invaded Ukraine in February last year, it has also expanded its joint military exercises with China.
Ukraine is calling for more weapons as it anticipates Russia launching a new offensive in the spring.
Meanwhile, the French president, Emmanuel Macronsaid on Sunday that does not rule out sending Leclerc military tanks to Ukraine and asked his defense minister to “work” on the idea.
Macron spoke during a press conference in Paris accompanied by the German chancellor Olaf Schölz as both countries commemorated the 60th anniversary of their post-World War II friendship treaty. In a joint statement, France and Germany pledged their “unwavering support” for Ukraine.
Scholz did not respond when asked about the Leopard 2 tanks on Sunday, but stressed that his country has already made considerable military contributions to Ukraine.
“The United States is doing a lot, Germany is also doing a lot,” said the German chancellor. “We have constantly expanded our deliveries with highly effective weapons that are already available today. And we have always coordinated all of these decisions closely with our important allies and friends.”
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
