Archives for March 2022

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said he has moved 12,000 troops along the borders with Russia, such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania while asserting that Vladimir Putin will not be victorious in the war he has waged against Ukraine.

Addressing members of the House Democratic Caucus on Friday, Biden stressed over “not fighting a third World War in Ukraine” but avowed sending an “unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory”.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a group of 30 North American and European nations.

According to NATO, its purpose “is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.”

Biden said the people of Ukraine have demonstrated remarkable bravery and courage in the face of a Russian military offensive but the security assistance that the US provides has been critical in their defence.

“And as we provide support to Ukraine, we’re going to continue to stand together with our allies in Europe and send an unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory with a united galvanized NATO,” the US president said.

“That’s why I’ve moved 12,000 American forces along the borders with Russia — Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania et cetra. Granted, if we respond, it is World War three. But we have a sacred obligation on NATO territory. Although we will not fight a third World War in Ukraine.”

On February 24, Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine, three days after Moscow recognised Ukraine’s breakaway regions — Donetsk and Luhansk — as independent entities.

“The idea that we’re going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand — and don’t kid yourself, no matter what you all say — that’s called World War Three,” he said.

The US president said that he spent hours the alliance together — the EU, NATO and including all those in Asia.

“As a result, we’ve been able to ramp up our economic pressure on Putin and further isolate Russia on the global stage,” he said.

Biden said the G7 nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States — made a move to remove the favored nation status for Russia.

He claimed that as a result of the US-led sanctions, the economy of Russia is badly impacted.

“The totality of our economic sanctions and export controls are crushing the Russian economy. The Ruble has lost more than half its value.”

“Moscow Stock Exchange is closed. Why is it closed? Because the moment it opens, it will be disbanded. Credit rating agencies have downgraded Russia’s government to junk status,” Biden said.

He said that democracies are rising to the moment rallying the world for peace and security.

“We are showing strength and we will never falter. Putin’s war against Ukraine will never be a victory.”

“I want to thank you for showing a unified front to the world. When Putin unleashed his assault, he thought he could divide NATO.”

“He thought he could divide this country in terms of the parties. He thought he could divide Democrats and Republicans at home, but he failed,” Biden told the members of the House Democratic Caucus.

The United States accused Russia of using a UN Security Council meeting Friday for “lying and spreading disinformation” as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia was playing out a scenario put forth in the council last month by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, that President Vladimir Putin would “fabricate allegations about chemical or biological weapons to justify its own violent attacks against the Ukrainian people.”

“The intent behind these lies seems clear, and is deeply troubling,” she said.

“We believe Russia could use chemical or biological agents for assassinations, as part of a staged or false-flag incident, or to support tactical military operations.”

The United States has warned about such Russian operations in conjunction with an invasion, which began February 24.

Russia had requested the meeting to address its allegations of US “biological activities” in Ukraine — a charge made without any evidence and denied by both Washington and Kyiv.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said its Defense Ministry had documents charging that Ukraine has at least 30 biological laboratories carrying out “very dangerous biological experiments” involving pathogens, and its work “is being done and funded and supervised by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency of the United States.

“Ukraine does have a network of biological labs that have gotten funding and research support from the US, but they are owned and operated by Ukraine and are part of an initiative called the Biological Threat Reduction Program that aims to reduce the likelihood of deadly outbreaks, whether natural or manmade.”

The US efforts date back to work in the 1990s to dismantle the former Soviet Union’s program for weapons of mass destruction.

“The labs are not secret,” said Filippa Lentzos, a senior lecturer in science and international security at King’s College London, in an email to the Associated Press.

“They are not being used in relation to bioweapons. This is all disinformation.”

Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward, called the allegations “utter nonsense” and said “Russia is sinking to new depths today, but the council must not get dragged down with it.”

UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu told the council she was aware of media reports about the allegations of and said: “The United Nations is not aware of any biological weapons programs.”

Thomas-Greenfield also denied that Ukraine has a biological weapons program or biological weapons labs as Russia claimed, saying the public health laboratory facilities are used to detect and diagnose diseases like COVID-19, with US help.

Thomas-Greenfield said that ever since Russia began building up forces near Ukraine’s borders, Washington’s strategy has been to counter Moscow’ tactics and share what it knows with the world.

“We’re not going to let Russia get away with lying to the world or staining the integrity of the Security Council by using it as a venue for legitimizing Putin’s violence,” she said.

“We do not sit in this chamber to be an audience for Russia’s domestic propaganda,” Thomas-Greenfield added.

“And we should not allow Russia to abuse its permanent seat to spread disinformation and lies and pervert the purpose of the Security Council.”

She also accused Russia’s ally, China, of “spreading disinformation in support of Russia’s outrageous claims.”

China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun expressed concern at Russia’s accusations and urged an investigation to “provide a comprehensive clarification and accept a multilateral verification.”

Britain’s Woodward said the Security Council must not be “an audience for Russia’s domestic propaganda” and must remain focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Moscow’s accusations “may actually point at Russia preparing another horrific false-flag operation.”

Noting that Russia has already used cruise missiles, multiple rocket launchers and heavy aerial bombardment, he addressed Putin by asking: “So what else are you going to use against Ukraine?”

The UN human rights office, meanwhile, has received “credible reports” that Russian forces are using cluster munitions in Ukraine, including in populated areas which is prohibited under international humanitarian law, Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council.

“Indiscriminate attacks, including those using cluster munitions, which are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, are prohibited under international humanitarian law,” DiCarlo said.

“Directing attacks against civilian and civilian objects, as well as so-called area bombardment in towns and villages, are also prohibited under international law and may amount to war crimes.”

Nebenzia replied that the allegations are “refuted repeatedly by our Ministry of Defense”.

The Russian request for the Security Council meeting came from its first deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had made the accusation earlier this week.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called Russia’s claim “preposterous” and tweeted: “This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denied Russia’s accusation, saying the accusation itself was a bad sign.

A USD 13.6 billion emergency package of military and humanitarian aid for besieged Ukraine and its European allies easily won final congressional approval, hitching a ride on a government-wide spending bill that’s five months late but loaded with political prizes for both parties.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion killing thousands and forcing over 2 million others to flee, the Senate approved the USD 1.

5 trillion overall legislation by a 68-31 bipartisan margin late Thursday.

Democrats and Republicans have battled this election year over rising inflation, energy policy and lingering pandemic restrictions, but they’ve rallied behind sending aid to Ukraine, whose stubborn resilience against brutal force has been inspirational for many voters.

“We promised the Ukrainian people they would not go at it alone in their fight against Putin,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said just before the vote.

“And once we pass this funding in a short while, we will keep that promise.”

The House passed the compromise bill easily Wednesday.

President Joe Biden’s signature was certain.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said approval “proves once more that members of both parties can come together to deliver results for the American people”, a phenomenon in short supply in recent years.

She also prodded lawmakers to revive money “urgently needed to prevent severe disruptions to our COVID response.

” In an embarrassment to Biden and Democratic leaders who’d made it a top priority, the House on Wednesday dropped the measure’s USD 15.

6 billion for continuing efforts to battle the pandemic after rank-and-file lawmakers balked at cuts in aid states had been promised.

Around half the USD 13.6 billion measure for the war was for arming and equipping Ukraine and the Pentagon’s costs for sending U.S. troops to other Eastern European nations skittish about the warfare next door.

Much of the rest included humanitarian and economic assistance, strengthening regional allies’ defenses and protecting their energy supplies and cybersecurity needs.

Republicans strongly backed that spending.

But they criticized Biden for moving too timidly, such as in the unresolved dispute with Poland over how that nation could give MiG fighter jets to Ukraine that its pilots know how to fly.

“This administration’s first instinct is to flinch, wait for international and public pressure to overwhelm them, and then take action only after the most opportune moment has passed us by,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

White House aides told Congress last month that Biden wanted $6.

4 billion to counter Russia’s invasion.

He ended up formally requesting USD 10 billion, an amount that it took an eager Congress just a few days to boost to its final figure of USD 13.6 billion. The USD1.5 trillion bill carrying that aid gave Democrats a near 7% increase for domestic initiatives, which constituted a bit less than half the package.

That translated to beefed-up spending for schools, housing, child care, renewable energy, biomedical research, law enforcement grants to communities and feeding programs.

The measure also directs money to minority communities and historically black colleges, renews efforts aimed at preventing domestic violence against women and requires infrastructure operators to report serious hacking incidents to federal authorities.

Republicans lay claim to an almost 6% boost for defense, including money for 85 advanced F-35 fighter planes, 13 new Navy ships, upgrades for 90 Abrams tanks and improvements for schools on military bases.

There would be another USD 300 million for Ukraine and $300 million for other Eastern European allies on top of the measure’s emergency funding.

The GOP also prevailed in retaining decades-old restrictions against using federal money to pay for nearly all abortions.

And they forced Biden to abandon goals for his 2022 budget, politically implausible from the start, that envisioned 16% domestic program increases and defense growth of less than 2%.

Besides those policy victories, many lawmakers of both parties had one incentive to back the spending package that they have not enjoyed since 2010.

Democratic leaders restored the old practice of earmarks, hometown projects for lawmakers that Congress dropped in 2011 because voters viewed it as a sleazy misspending of taxpayers’ money.

The practice was restored, the expansive bill was laced with thousands of the projects at a price tag of several billion dollars.

Years ago, the numbers were often higher.

Affirming the practice’s popularity, the Senate rejected an amendment by Sen.

Mike Braun, R-Ind., to strip the earmarks.

Braun said they encompassed 367 pages that weighed five pounds and showed “the swamp is rising again.”

The amendment’s defeat by a bipartisan 64-35 margin spoke for itself.

Government agencies have operated under last year’s lower spending levels since the new fiscal year began Oct.1 because, as usual, Congress hadn’t approved any bills by then updating those amounts.

Months of talks produced the compromise spending pact this week.

With the latest temporary spending measure expiring Friday night, Biden’s signature of the USD 1.5 trillion bill would avert a weekend federal shutdown, which was never going to happen because neither party had reason to spark such a battle.