প্রকাশ: 15/02/2022
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to fly
the country's flags from buildings and sing the national anthem in unison on
Feb. 16, a date that some Western media have cited as a possible start of a
Russian invasion.
Ukrainian officials stressed that Zelenskiy was not
predicting an attack on that date, but responding with skepticism to foreign
media reports. Several Western media organisations have quoted US and other
officials citing the date as when Russian forces would be ready for an attack.
"They tell us Feb. 16 will be the day of the attack. We
will make it a day of unity," Zelenskiy said in a video address to the
nation.
"They are trying to frighten us by yet again naming a
date for the start of military action," Zelenskiy said. "On that day,
we will hang our national flags, wear yellow and blue banners, and show the
whole world our unity."
Zelenskiy has long said that - while he believes Russia is
threatening his country - the likelihood of an imminent attack has been
overstated by Ukraine's Western allies, responding to Moscow's efforts to
intimidate Ukraine and sow panic.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskiy's chief of staff,
told Reuters the president was responding in part "with irony" to
media reports of the potential date of the invasion.
"It is quite understandable why Ukrainians today are
skeptical about various 'specific dates' of the so-called 'start of the
invasion' announced in the media," he said. "When the 'start of the
invasion' becomes some sort of rolling tour date, such media announcements can
only be taken with irony."
Zelenskiy's office released the text of a decree calling for
all villages and towns in Ukraine to fly the country's flags on Wednesday, and
for the entire nation to sing the national anthem at 10 am. It also called for
an increase in salaries of soldiers and border guards.
US officials said they were not predicting an assault
ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on a specific day, but repeated
warnings that it could come at any time.
"I won't get into a specific date; I don't think that
would be smart. I would just tell you that it is entirely possible that he
could move with little to no warning," Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby
told reporters. Earlier, Kirby said Moscow was still adding to its military
capabilities on the Ukrainian frontier.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington, which has
already sent most of its diplomats’ home, was moving its remaining diplomatic
mission in Ukraine from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv, much further from the
Russian frontier. He cited a "dramatic acceleration in the buildup of
Russian forces".
Russia has more than 100,000 troops massed near the border
of Ukraine. It denies Western accusations that it is planning an invasion, but
says it could take unspecified "military-technical" action unless a
range of demands are met, including barring Kyiv from ever joining the NATO
alliance.
Russia suggested on Monday that it was ready to keep talking
to the West to try to defuse the security crisis.
In a televised exchange, Putin was shown asking his foreign
minister, Sergei Lavrov, whether there was a chance of an agreement to address
Russia's security concerns, or whether it was just being dragged into tortuous
negotiations.
Lavrov replied: "We have already warned more than once
that we will not allow endless negotiations on questions that demand a solution
today."
But he added: "It seems to me that our possibilities
are far from exhausted... At this stage, I would suggest continuing and
building them up."
Western countries have threatened sanctions on an
unprecedented scale if Russia does invade. The Group of Seven large economies
(G7) warned on Monday of "economic and financial sanctions which will have
massive and immediate consequences on the Russian economy".
After speaking with the foreign ministers of Russia and
Ukraine, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he still believed
"from his own analysis, his own hopes" that there would not be a
conflict, a UN spokesperson said.
Moscow says Ukraine's quest to join NATO poses a threat.
While NATO has no immediate plans to admit Ukraine, Western countries say they
cannot negotiate over a sovereign country's right to form alliances.
ECONOMIC DAMAGE
Ukraine is already suffering economic damage from the
standoff. A surge in the price of 5-year credit default swaps on Ukrainian
sovereign bonds suggested that markets gave Kyiv a 42% probability of
defaulting.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told
congressional leaders on Monday that Washington was considering offering
Ukraine up to $1 billion in sovereign loan guarantees to calm markets, a source
familiar with the adviser's call told Reuters.
Ukraine International Airlines, Ukraine's biggest airline,
said its insurers had terminated cover for at least some of its aircraft on
flights in Ukrainian airspace.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held talks in Kyiv with
Zelenskiy. On Tuesday, Scholz is due to fly to Moscow, the latest Western
official to make the trip after French President Emmanuel Macron and two
British ministers went last week.
Scholz said he saw "no reasonable justification"
for Russia's military activity on Ukraine's border, and that "we are ready
for a serious dialogue with Russia on European security issues". He
announced a credit of 150 million euros ($170 million) for Ukraine.
($1 = 0.8838 euros)
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