In the months leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, the United States has not stopped publicly warning of the possibility of large-scale Russian intervention — at one point, the Ukrainian government itself asked Washington to “not provoke.” Panic”, the newspaper now reveals The Washington PostThe White House was aware of the invasion plan months before Vladimir Putin ordered it, but failed to convince NATO members of the imminence of the attack.
The US daily describes the meeting in the Oval Office in October 2021 President Joe Biden, his deputy, Kamala Harris, and several military and diplomatic advisors. The session was one of many that took place in Ukraine last fall, but it stood out for the details in the information provided to the US president. The man responsible for arranging the session was Jack Sullivan, the National Security Adviser, who was wary of Russian intentions.
In attendance were Secretary of State Anthony Blinken; Defense, Lloyd Austin; The Inter-Arms Chief of Staff, General Mark A. Milli; and the directors of the National Security Agency and the CIA. Responding to Sullivan’s request to develop an overview of Russia’s plans, they told Biden that he had “intelligence information. projects Vladimir Putin’s operational activities, along with ongoing mobilizations along the Ukrainian border, showed that all the pieces were in place for a massive offensive.
With access to “multiple points of Russian political leadership and the military and intelligence apparatus,” Putin’s “impressively audacious” war plan involved the occupation of almost the entire country and was “directly threatening,” the U.S. Secret Service knew. NATO’s Eastern Front or destroy the post-World War II defense architecture in Europe”.
According to the information, the Russians will enter from the north, on both sides of Kiev, and the offensive will be launched in the winter: “forming a pincer around the capital, Russian troops planned to capture Kiev in three to four days” and ” special forces to find and remove President Volodymyr Zelesnky will kill him if necessary”, to install a friendly government. At the same time, they will enter the Dnieper River from the east, while the troops in Crimea will occupy the southern coast. After a pause to regroup, they move west, along a north-south line, from Moldova. Belarus – For the West, there would be a “Ukrainian state populated by irreducible neo-Nazi Russophobes, in Putin’s calculations.”
Details obtained include troop and weapons levels, operational strategy, and increased funding ordered by Putin for “military contingency measures” and “build-up of forces in reserves,” even to the detriment of other needs such as the pandemic response. It is not an exercise. If only Biden and his administration didn’t think the world was on the brink of a new war Summit It brought the two presidents together on June 16, and a month later, Putin released his version of the deal. Rehearsal “Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians”. In late August, as a precaution, Biden authorized the shipment of $60 million worth of defensive weapons to Ukraine.
After the October meeting, Biden’s biggest problem was convincing allies at a time when “NATO was far from speaking with one voice on how to deal with Moscow” and “US credibility was weak” after the disastrous invasion of Iraq and chaos. of Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Later that month, at the G20 summit in Rome, Biden warned his closest allies France, Britain and Germany. A few weeks later, several NATO members were urged by Secret Service Director Avril Haynes.
According to MailWith the exception of the United Kingdom and the Baltic countries, most responded with great skepticism. After previous American missteps, the Germans and French feared political manipulation. In practice, Angela Merkel left the German government and Emmanuel MacronIn the pre-campaign for the French presidential election in April, Putin did not want to believe he could do something “irrational”.
In the following months, the Americans engaged in discussions and meetings to appease various European countries, while at the same time strengthening their military presence in Europe. But days before the invasion, many still couldn’t believe what was to come, including the French president, who celebrated Putin’s agreement to a meeting with Biden on February 20. A few hours later, Putin Approved Officially the Donetsk and Luhansk republics four days ago to break To Ukraine.
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