Post by Frank on Feb 3, 2015 8:50:08 GMT 10
www.news.com.au/world/russian-advances-in-ukraine-prompt-military-aid-talk-in-washington/story-fndir2ev-1227205839409
AS UKRAINIAN troops retreat ahead of Russian tanks thinly disguised as separatist rebels, the US is reconsidering military aid. But experts warn: This could lead to full-blown war.
The pro-West Ukrainian government has appealed for “lethal aid” after a ceasefire negotiated late last year was cast aside by pro-Moscow separatists to launch an unexpected midwinter offensive.
The Ukrainian forces are battling to repel waves of militants equipped with modern armour — many still with their Russian unit markings — trying to surround a strategic railway hub in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has previously appealed to US legislators for military equipment: “One cannot win a war with blankets ... and cannot keep the peace with blankets,” he said.
President Barack Obama has now expressed his willingness to take a fresh look at supplying Ukraine with lethal aid.
It’s a high-stakes move.
“There is a real risk now that we will end up in a war with Russia,” said Fiona Hill, of the Brookings Center in Washington.
Or from the ABC
www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-03/ukraine-separatists-vow-to-mobilise-100000-fighters/6064650
Pro-Russian separatists have vowed to mobilise up to 100,000 fighters for their latest east Ukraine offensive as the United States mulls sending weapons to Kiev's outgunned forces after the latest truce bid collapsed.
The pledge to dramatically escalate a nine-month conflict that has already left at least 5,100 people dead came as the rebels battled to encircle the beleaguered transport hub of Debaltseve.
"There will be general mobilisation in the [separatist] Donetsk People's Republic in 10 days' time, we plan on mobilising up to 100,000 men," rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko told the separatist news agency DAN.
I wouldn't give it too much credence. Either it's wrong or they're saying it for Ukrainian media.
Rebels supporter Alexander
Ukrainian army spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the rebel call-up meant they "don't have the human resources and haven't achieved their objectives, that is taking the strategic town" of Debaltseve.
Kiev authorities announced at the end of January that they also were calling up 50,000 troops in the face of the latest rebel offensive.
Fighting in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland has intensified in recent days, with five Ukrainian soldiers and seven civilians killed in the last 24 hours.
The conflict claimed around 50 lives over the weekend, as the latest attempt at truce talks collapsed in acrimony in Minsk on Saturday.