Heading towards World War III?

Denmark will provide an unspecified number of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and launchers to Ukraine, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Monday. Last week’s rumors about the deliveries prompted Kiev to declare the US would help Ukraine “destroy” the Russian fleet, which the outgoing Pentagon spokesman denied.

Officially, the missiles are intended to help “defend the Ukrainian coastline,” according to Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley, who spoke with reporters after Monday’s virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

The panel – composed of 47 countries willing to supply Kiev with weapons – had a “highly constructive” meeting and got “a sharper sense” of Ukrainian needs from Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov and other Kiev officials, Austin said.

In addition to the Danish-supplied missiles, Czechia has pledged attack helicopters, tanks, and multiple rocket launcher systems (MLRS). Kiev has been asking for long-range artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, as well as drones, according to Austin.

Boeing’s A/U/RGM-84 Harpoon is the US Navy’s standard anti-ship missile, with an estimated range of about 300 kilometers. It has active radar guidance and skims the surface until it reaches the target, at which point it can execute a “pop-up” maneuver and strike from above. Harpoons are normally launched from either surface vessels or attack aircraft, but launchers can be removed from ships for use ashore – which appears to be what Denmark intends to do.

Last week, Reuters reported that the Pentagon was considering sending Ukraine either Harpoons or Naval Strike Missiles (NSM), directly or through a “European ally.” The agency cited “three US officials and two congressional sources,” all of them anonymous. They expressed hope that once the first country commits to sending Harpoons, others would follow.

www.rt.com/russia/555979-pentagon-harpoon-ukraine-denmark

New Zealand announced on Monday that a small number of its soldiers will be flying to the UK to train Ukrainian artillery crews, thereby confirming the rumor that London is preparing to send Kiev L119 light howitzers.

Some 30 New Zealand Army personnel will stay in the UK through the end of July for the training mission, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday. Wellington has already spent about 15.7 million NZ dollars (approximately $10 million) on aiding Kiev, including donations of military equipment and intelligence support using commercial satellite assets.

A total of 230 Ukrainian troops are scheduled to take the training course, with each session expected to take about a week, said Air Marshal Kevin Short, chief of the New Zealand Defence Force.

While the authorities in Wellington did not say where the L119s will be coming from, Ukrainian media reported that the UK will be providing the 105-millimeter towed artillery pieces. The light howitzer can be towed or carried in slings by helicopters.

www.rt.com/news/555985-new-zealand-train-ukrainian-troops

The world is "navigating a dark hour in our shared history" with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden told key Asian allies.

The war has now become a "global issue" underscoring the importance of defending international order, he said.

Japanese PM Fumio Kishida also echoed his comments, saying that a similar invasion should not happen in Asia.

Mr Biden is meeting the leaders of Japan, Australia and India in Tokyo in his first visit to Asia as president.

The four countries known collectively as the Quad are discussing security and economic concerns including China's growing influence in the region - and differences over the Russian invasion.

Mr Biden's comments come a day after he warned China that it was "flirting with danger" over Taiwan, and vowed to protect Taiwan militarily if China attacked, appearing to contradict a long-standing US policy on the issue.

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61560784

Nearly 62 million barrels of Russia’s flagship Urals crude oil, a record amount, are currently in tankers at sea, according to data from energy analytics firm Vortexa, as cited by Reuters.

However, traders are reportedly struggling to find buyers for some of the cargo as EU countries fail to agree on a possible Russian oil ban. Other buyers have reportedly been shunning Russian crude due to fears of future sanctions.

According to Vortexa, the volume of Urals crude oil on the water is triple the average recorded before February 24, when Russia’s military operation was launched in Ukraine.

“The headline numbers, showing Russian exports are still relatively strong, don’t tell the full story,” Houston-based energy strategist Clay Seigle said, as quoted by Reuters. “Russian oil at sea is continuing to accumulate.”

The number of Urals cargoes at sea with no set destination constitutes 15% of the total, also a new high, Seigle said, adding that some of the oil could be in transit to undisclosed buyers, while others could be unsold cargoes.

Most barrels of Russian crude oil have reportedly headed to Asia, mostly to India and China, while volumes headed to Europe have also increased.

www.rt.com/business/556018-russia-oil-shipment-record-high

The Ukrainian military will turn the tide in the conflict with Russia and enter Crimea by the end of the year, Kirill Budanov, the head of intelligence at Ukraine’s defense ministry, has said.

The situation on the battlefield is going to change in Kiev’s favor from August when the weapons that are being supplied by the West reach Ukrainian units, Budanov told Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper on Tuesday.

“That’s what will bring forth the turnaround because now we are catastrophically short of heavy weapons,” he said.

“Russia has 12 months of resources to wage a full-scale war” and after that the conflict between Kiev and Moscow would end with “the return of our occupied territories,” the intelligence chief claimed.

When asked if those “occupied territories” included the Crimea, which overwhelmingly voted to part ways with Ukraine and join Russia in a 2014 referendum, Budanov replied by saying that “by the end of the year, we must at least enter Crimean territory.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who also spoke on Tuesday, shared completely different projections of what’s going to happen on the ground in Ukraine.

“Despite the large-scale military assistance from the West to the Kiev regime and sanction pressure on Russia, we will continue with the special military operation until all of its goals are fulfilled,” he said.

www.rt.com/russia/556011-ukraine-budanov-turnaround-crimea

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, citing the conflict in Ukraine, just hours after parliament approved the measure as a way for Budapest to respond to crisis situations.

Orban announced the emergency in a video address on his Facebook page. The emergency regime takes effect at midnight, and the first measures will be revealed on Wednesday.

“To safeguard Hungary’s national security interests, to make sure we stay out of the war and to protect Hungarian families, the government needs room to maneuver and the ability to act immediately,” Orban said in the announcement.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Hungarian parliament passed a constitutional amendment giving the prime minister authority to declare an emergency if there is a war or humanitarian disaster in a neighboring country, in addition to the existing crisis categories. Orban’s critics claim this will allow him to “rule by decree” and bypass lawmakers.

www.rt.com/news/556024-hungary-declares-state-emergency