Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Moscow will expand its nuclear weapons program, and the volume of production of other weapons will also increase, writes Reuters.
Putin announced the suspension of a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty a few days earlier. He also informed that Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles will be deployed for the first time. In the statement issued on the morning of Thursday, the 23rd of February, Putin stated that the increased production of other weapons will also continue.
Before the 24th of February, which marks one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin and US President Joe Biden exchanged remarks that highlight the tension between the two powers. Russia is said to have made a decision to suspend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty because the US is trying to expand the conflict with military support for Ukraine. Biden, on the other hand, said during his visit to Kyiv that the USA and NATO defend Ukraine’s democracy and freedom.
Speaking in Warsaw on Wednesday, the 22nd of February, Biden said that the suspension of a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty is a big mistake. At the same time, the US president stated that he does not think that Putin really plans to use nuclear weapons.
After meeting with the leaders of NATO’s eastern flank, Biden promised that the US would defend every inch of NATO territory, including the countries that share a border with Russia. The Kremlin sees NATO, which plans to include Sweden and Finland, as a threat to Russia.
Russia’s war in Ukraine started last year and is the bloodiest military conflict in Europe since World War II. On the 22nd of February, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and stated that it is a violation of the UN Charter and international law.
On the 22nd of February, Putin received the Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Vang Yi in Moscow and announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping would also visit Russia. It is expected that Jinping will make a «peace speech» on Friday, the 24th of February, but Ukraine has already clearly indicated that there will be no peace talks as long as the Russian army is in the territory of Ukraine.
On the morning of Thursday, the 23rd of February, the Ukrainian army reported that 90 attacks by Russian forces were repelled in the east and northeast of the country during the last 24 hours. Oleh Zhdanov, a Ukrainian military expert and reserve colonel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said: «In Avdiivka, Russian forces are sticking to their tactic of pushing in one place, failing to advance, and then bringing in reserves to try in another place. This is possible only because of the number of troops Russia can draw upon. They pay no attention to their losses. The idea is to weaken our position – with little heed of the cost involved.»
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