Heading towards World War III?

KYIV, June 12 (Reuters) - Bitter fighting raged in Sievierodonetsk, but the region's governor said Ukraine remained in control of an industrial area and chemical plant in the eastern city where hundreds of civilians are sheltering from incessant Russian shelling.

A Russia-backed separatist group on Saturday claimed 300 to 400 Ukrainian fighters were also trapped at the Azot plant.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai earlier conceded Russian forces now controlled most of the small city in Luhansk province, and said Russian shelling of the plant had ignited a big fire after an oil leak. It was not known if the fire was still burning on Sunday.

www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-it-still-controls-sievierodonetsk-plant-sheltering-hundreds-2022-06-12

The West should take Moscow’s interests into account to prevent Russia from becoming “an outpost of China in Europe,” former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has said.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Kissinger hailed NATO’s united response to Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine and said the alliance should be maintained as it “has grown into an institution reflecting European and American collaboration in an almost unique way.”

The refusal of China to condemn the Russian military offensive in Ukraine and its increasing cooperation with Moscow are the latest items in a long list of disagreements between Washington and Beijing. The US-led West responded to Russia’s “aggression” by imposing hard-hitting sanctions on Moscow.

Commenting on Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the former secretary of state said that there was “no excuse” for what President Vladimir Putin has done. In his opinion, the Russian leader, whom he had always viewed as “a thoughtful analyst,” is the “head of a declining country” and “he’s lost his sense of proportion in this crisis.”

Kissinger argued that now, as Europe and America are facing “big issues” in their relations with the Middle East and Asia, it is not in the interest of the US to allow China to further build up its power.

“I do not believe that world domination is a Chinese concept, but it could happen that they become so powerful. And that’s not in our interest,” he said.

Kissinger has no doubts that Washington and Beijing are now adversaries but stresses the two superpowers “have a minimum common obligation” to prevent a catastrophic collision from happening. With some countries willing to exploit the rivalry and others seeking aid from one of the superpowers, “we’re heading into a very difficult period,” Kissinger warned.

On Sunday, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe said that his country was pursuing a path of peaceful development and was not seeking world hegemony. Noting that although China has achieved “significant progress” in nuclear arms development, the minister made it clear that Beijing sticks to a “self-defense policy.” His remarks came the day after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stressed that the US was not seeking confrontation with either China or any other countries in the Indo-Pacific region. However, Austin said that amid “growing coercion” from China and its “provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan,” maintaining peace is not just in Washington’s interests but also “a matter of international concern.”

Following his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kissinger, who turned 99 in May, was labeled “an accomplice in the crimes of the Russian authorities” by the Mirotvorets website, which is commonly believed to be run by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

In Davos, Kissinger said that a peace deal must be reached between Kiev and Moscow in the coming months to prevent the Ukraine conflict from spiraling into a global war between NATO and Russia. For this to happen, according to the former secretary of state, Ukraine must at least accept a return to the “status quo ante,” meaning it would need to relinquish its territorial claims to Crimea and grant autonomy to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

Kissinger is a prominent advocate of the realpolitik school of international relations, which puts the practical interests of nations ahead of ideological stances. As President Richard Nixon’s secretary of state, he spearheaded the US’ diplomatic outreach to China during the 1970s, which was aimed at preventing Beijing from allying itself with Soviet Russia.

www.rt.com/news/557030-west-moscow-interests-kissinger-china

Russia claims to have destroyed a large depot with US and European weapons in Ukraine using Kalibr cruise missiles, news agency Reuters reported on Sunday (June 12) citing Interfax. In the report, the Russian defence ministry stated that weapons were allegedly destroyed in the Ternopil region.

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, "high-precision long-range sea-launched Kalibr missiles destroyed a large warehouse near the settlement of Chortkiv, Ternopil region, with anti-tank missile systems, portable anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery shells for weapons systems, supplied to the Kyiv regime from the United States and European countries."

www.wionews.com/world/russia-destroyed-large-depot-with-western-weapons-in-ukraine-report-487499

In his traditional late-night video address, Ukraine's President Zelensky said Russia was deploying "poorly trained conscripts and those gathered by covert mobilisation" to the eastern region of Donbas.

According to him, Russia is deploying reserve forces in Donbas to support its assault on the city of Severodonetsk, "where very fierce fighting is going on literally for every metre", as well as Lysychansk, Bakhmut and other areas.

"Russia can cross the line of 40,000 of its lost troops already in June. In no other war in many decades have they lost so much," he said, accusing Russian generals of seeing their people as "cannon fodder".

He once again called on world leaders to provide Ukraine with modern missile defence systems, citing the casualties from the latest missile attack on western Ukraine.

www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-61764008

The West could provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons to help defend itself against Russia, Radoslaw Sikorski, a member of the European Parliament and former Polish foreign minister, said.

“The West has the right to give Ukraine nuclear warheads so that it could protect its independence,” Sikorski told Ukraine’s Espreso TV on Saturday.

Sikorski, who served as Poland’s foreign minister between 2007 and 2014, argued that Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum.

Under the 1994 document signed by Ukraine, Russia, Britain, and the US, Kiev agreed to surrender its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal. The signatories promised to “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.”

On Sunday, Sikorski reiterated his position, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of threatening Ukraine with nuclear weapons and arguing that the West must “dissuade” him.

Last month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexey Zaytsev denied that Moscow was planning to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. He said that claims to the contrary are “deliberate lies.”

www.rt.com/news/557040-west-ukraine-nuclear-weapons

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that the US-led alliance aims to strengthen Ukraine’s position at the negotiating table, but added that any peace deal would involve compromises, including of territory.

Stoltenberg spoke at the Kultaranta Talks in Finland, following a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. While the NATO chief said that the West was willing to “pay a price” to strengthen the Ukrainian military, Kiev will have to make some territorial concessions to Moscow in order to end the current conflict.

“Peace is possible,” he said. “The only question is what price are you willing to pay for peace? How much territory, how much independence, how much sovereignty…are you willing to sacrifice for peace?”

www.rt.com/news/557057-stoltenberg-ukraine-give-territory