Ukraine-Russia war could last ten years, says UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss
The Ukraine war could last ten years, says Liz Truss, while Vladimir Putin vows to use “all weapons” at Russia’s disposal against any country that interferes in Ukraine.
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The Ukraine war could last a decade, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned, slamming Vladimir Putin’s Russia as less trustworthy than the former Soviet Union.
In her foreign policy speech, Ms Truss labelled Putin as a “desperate rogue operator” who if successful, would inflict untold misery across Europe and “terrible consequences across the globe”.
Government officers are concerned about potential attacks on Moldova or Georgia should the Russian leader keep hold of Ukrainian territory.
“We must be prepared for the long haul,” Ms Truss said, warning Britain and its allies must “keep going further and faster to push Russia out of the whole of Ukraine”.
Miss Truss said the crisis in Ukraine must be the catalyst for an overhaul to the West’s approach to international security.
‘Now we need a new approach, one that melds hard security and economic security, one that builds stronger global alliances and where free nations are more assertive and self-confident, one that recognises geopolitics is back,’ she said.
Speaking at the Mansion House in the City of London, Miss Truss honed in on China for refusing to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, while increasing imports from Russia.
“China is not impervious. They will not continue to rise if they do not play by the rules,’ Ms Truss said.
“China needs trade with the G7. We represent around half of the global economy. And we have choices.
“We have shown with Russia the kind of choices that we’re prepared to make when international rules are violated.”
PUTIN: WE WILL USE ALL OF OUR WEAPONS
Vladimir Putin has threatened to use “all the weapons we need” against any country that interferes with Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The Russian president told legislators in St Petersburg on Wednesday that his response to counterstrikes would be “lightning fast”.
“If someone intends to interfere in what is going on from the outside they must know that constitutes an unacceptable strategic threat to Russia,” Mr Putin said.
“They must know that our response to counter strikes will be lightning fast. Fast.”
“We have all the weapons we need for this. No one else can brag about these weapons, and we won’t brag about them. But we will use them.”
Mr Putin did not specifically refer to Russia’s stockpile of nuclear weapons – the largest on the planet – but was understood to be referring to his the country’s superweapons including its deadly Sarmat missile, dubbed “Satan 2” and which launched last week.
The nuclear missile can fly 17,700kms, carry 15 warheads and has the potential to destroy an area the size of France.
The Russian president continued by saying the Kremlin “can’t allow an anti-Russia to be created on Russia’s historical territory” and added that Ukraine was “pushed” to attack Crimea and Donbas.
Accusing the West of using Ukrainians as “expendable materials,” he added that they “prepared en masse an economic war against Russia, step by step, using all kinds of pretexts and sometimes none at all to pass sanctions.”
Meanwhile, Russian state TV host Vladimir Solovyov on Wednesday threatened the annihilation of the United Kingdom with the Sarmat, Russia’s newest ballistic missile, over its support for Ukraine.
“One Sarmat means minus one Great Britain,” Moscow mouthpiece Vladimir Solovyov said on state TV, according to The NY Post.
“Because they’ve gotten totally boorish.”
Solovyov — occasionally called “Putin’s voice” for his close ties to the strongman — is the same TV presenter at the centre of a debunked assassination attempt, in which the Kremlin said neo-Nazis armed with video games planned to kill the Kremlin lackey.
Solovyov made the statement from behind a laptop emblazoned with the letter “Z,” which has become shorthand for support of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the hits could be authorised against Nato member states.
“Do we understand correctly that for the sake of disrupting the logistics of military supplies, Russia can strike military targets on the territory of those Nato countries that supply arms to the Kyiv regime? she said”
“After all, this directly leads to deaths and bloodshed on Ukrainian territory. As far as I understand, Britain is one of those countries.”
US MARINE EXCHANGED FOR RUSSIAN PILOT
US Marine Trevor Reed has been released from Russian custody in a prisoner swap that has brought his family’s “nightmare” to an end.
“Our family has been living a nightmare. Today, our prayers have been answered and Trevor is safely on his way back to the United States,” the family said in a statement.
“We’d respectfully ask for some privacy while we address the myriad of health issues brought on by the squalid conditions he was subjected to in his Russian gulag,” the family continued, although they did not specify how many days Reed was detained.
They thanked US President Joe Biden “for his kindness, his consideration, and for making the decision to bring Trevor home,” adding that Mr Biden’s action “may have saved Trevor’s life.”
Mr Biden also confirmed Mr Reed’s release, saying he had shared the news with his family.
“Today, we welcome home Trevor Reed and celebrate his return to the family that missed him dearly. Trevor, a former U.S. Marine, is free from Russian detention,” he said in a statement. “I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how much they’ve worried about his health and missed his presence. And I was delighted to be able to share with them the good news about Trevor’s freedom.”
Mr Reed’s release was the result of a prisoner swap for Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on her official Telegram channel.
“The negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly. His safe return is a testament to the priority my Administration places on bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad,” Mr Biden said.
He went on to call for the release of detained security director Paul Whelan, who was first arrested in 2018, saying he would not “stop until Paul Whelan and others join Trevor in the loving arms of family and friends.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also welcomed the release of Mr Reed in a statement Wednesday “while continuing to call for the release of wrongfully detained” Whelan.
“We also remain committed to securing the freedom of all U.S. nationals wrongfully detained abroad,” he said.
‘BLACKMAIL’: RUSSIA CUTS SUPPLIES TO TWO NATO COUNTRIES
Russia’s gas giant Gazprom has told Poland and highly dependent Bulgaria that it will halt its shipments of Russian gas to the two countries within hours.
“Bulgargaz received a notification today, April 26, that natural gas supplies from Gazprom Export will be suspended starting April 27,” Bulgaria’s economy ministry said late Tuesday local time in a statement.
“The Bulgarian side has fully met its obligations and has made all payments required under its current contract in a timely manner, strictly and in accordance with its terms,” it added.
Poland’s PGNiG gas firm also announced Tuesday that “On April 26, 2022, Gazprom informed PGNiG of its intention to completely suspend deliveries under the Yamal contract … on April 27.” The Polish operator said “all deliveries to customers are being made according to their demand”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak accused Moscow of “beginning the gas blackmail of Europe”.
“Russia is trying to shatter the unity of our allies,” he said.
“Russia is also proving that energy resources are a weapon.
“That is why the EU needs to be united and impose an embargo on energy resources, depriving the Russians of their energy weapons.”
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland’s gas storage facilities were 76 per cent full and that the country was ready to obtain necessary supplies from sources other than the Yamal pipeline.
Poland imports liquefied gas through a terminal on the Baltic coast and is hoping to receive gas from Norway via the Baltic Pipe project, which is expected to be completed later this year and should eventually cover around 50 per cent of Poland’s consumption.
Bulgaria’s energy ministry also said that its state-owned gas operators Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz “have undertaken steps for alternative agreements for natural gas deliveries and for coping with the current situation”.
“At present, there is no need for (imposing) any restrictive measures on consumption,” it added.
Bulgaria is almost completely dependent on Russia for its annual consumption of about 3.0 billion cubic metres of gas.
The Balkan nation receives only small amounts from Azerbaijan that it hopes to increase after completing a key pipe link to neighbouring Greece later this year.
The country’s long-term contract with Gazprom expires at the end of this year.
Uncertainty over its renewal amid EU sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine has pushed Sofia to seek alternative supplies and routes, including liquefied natural gas from terminals in Greece and Turkey.
RUSSIA’S THREAT TO UK
Russia has warned Britain that if it continues to provoke Ukraine to strike targets in Russia there will be an immediate “proportional response”.
Russia’s defence ministry cited statements from Britain’s armed forces minister James Heappey who told BBC radio that it was entirely legitimate for Ukraine to hunt targets in the depths of Russia to disrupt logistics and supply lines.
“We would like to underline that London’s direct provocation of the Kyiv regime into such actions, if such actions are carried out, will immediately lead to our proportional response,” Russia’s defence ministry said.
“As we have warned, the Russian Armed Forces are in around-the-clock readiness to launch retaliatory strikes with high-precision long-range weapons at decision-making centres in Kyiv.”
The defence ministry also said that if such Russian strikes were made it would not necessarily be a problem if representatives of a certain Western country were located at Ukraine’s decision making centres, Reuters reports.
Mr Heappey said it was completely legitimate for Ukraine to strike Russian logistics lines and fuel supplies and he acknowledged the weapons the international community was now providing had the range to be used in Russia.
US VOWS TO MOVE ‘HEAVEN AND EARTH’ TO DEFEAT RUSSIA
Washington pledged at a summit of major allies on Tuesday local time to move “heaven and earth” to enable Ukraine to defeat Russia as the UN chief pleaded in Moscow for aid and civilian evacuation corridors.
“Ukraine clearly believes that it can win and so does everyone here,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told 40 allies gathered at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany two months into Russia’s invasion of its western neighbour.
The goal is “to build up Ukraine’s defences for tomorrow’s challenges,” Austin said, and Washington is “going to keep moving heaven and earth so that we can meet” Kyiv’s needs.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading for heavier firepower to push back the Russian advance in the Donbas, but allies are wary of being drawn into a conflict that could spiral into an outright military confrontation between Moscow and NATO.
Germany announced it would send anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, bowing to pressure to drop the cautious stance it has taken since the invasion was launched on February 24.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, visiting Moscow, urged Russia and Ukraine to co-operate on opening humanitarian corridors for evacuating residents from war zones – after Ukraine accused Russian forces of refusing to guarantee the safety of those fleeing.
He also called for an independent investigation into “possible war crimes” by Russian forces after reports of widespread civilian killings in Ukraine.
On Ukraine’s eastern front, where the country’s best-known singer Sviatoslav Vakarchuk made a morale-boosting visit, a Ukrainian military press officer admitted the situation was difficult.
“It’s far from rosy,” said Iryna Rybakova, of the 93rd brigade. “Of course, we were prepared for this war, especially the professional army, but for those who’ve been recruited, it’s more complicated,” Rybakova told AFP.
At the entrance to Barinkove, not far from the Russian lines, six Ukrainian soldiers were ready at any moment to dive into their trench, which they dig every day with a shovel.
“Otherwise, we’re dead,” said Vasyl, 51, who serves with his son Denys, 22. Stoking fears of a wider conflict, several blasts were reported Tuesday in the neighbouring ex-Soviet state of Moldova, in the Russian-backed separatist region of Transnistria.
“Russia wants to destabilise the Transnistrian region and hints Moldova should wait for ‘guests,’” Mykhaylo Podolyak, an adviser to Mr Zelenskyy, wrote on Twitter.
The UN is set to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would require the five permanent members of the Security Council – which includes Russia – to justify their use of a veto on joint resolutions.
But despite the diplomatic scrambling, civilians bear the brunt of much of the fighting raging the south and east.
Russian strikes on Tuesday killed at least nine civilians in southern and eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.
In the city of Kharkiv, which has faced a barrage of Russian rockets since the war began over two months ago, children spoke to AFP about the bombings, their daily life and hopes for peace.
In the south, two Russian missiles struck the industrial city of Zaporizhia, which has welcomed many civilians fleeing the besieged port city of Mariupol, regional authorities said.
Russian forces are expected to soon advance on the city, giving them the potential to seize Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant.
“The city of Kreminna has reportedly fallen and heavy fighting is reported south of Izium, as Russian forces attempt to advance towards the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk from the north and east,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in its daily analysis.
And in Mariupol, where some 100,000 residents remain trapped, Russian forces continued to pound the Azovstal steel plant where Ukrainian forces have been holding out alongside hundreds of civilians.
“The bombings continue constantly, by heavy artillery and aviation,” Donestsk regional governor Pavlo Kirilenko said Tuesday on Facebook.
Russia’s defence ministry, for its part, claimed it had used “high-precision weapons” to strike ammunition depots and two other targets in the Kharkiv region.
It also said it had shot down 13 drones operated by Ukrainian forces. The World Bank warned that surging prices of energy and other commodities since the Russian invasion are likely to remain “historically high” through 2024.
NUCLEAR DANGER
Radiation levels in Chernobyl are now back “at normal” following a weeks-long occupation by Russian forces that sent levels higher at “some moments”, the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog said.
“The radiation level, I would say, is at normal. There have been some moments when the levels have gone up because of the movement of the heavy equipment that Russian forces were bringing here and when they left,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that peace talks with Ukraine would continue, while warning there was a “real” danger of a World War III.
Speaking to Russian news agencies, he criticised Kyiv’s approach to the talks, adding: “Good will has its limits. But if it isn’t reciprocal, that doesn’t help the negotiation process.
“But we are continuing to engage in negotiations with the team delegated by (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, and these contacts will go on.”
But Lavrov accused former actor Zelenskyy of “pretending” to negotiate.
“He’s a good actor,” he said.
But he added: “If you watch attentively and read attentively what he says, you’ll find a thousand contradictions.”
Given the current tensions, Mr Lavrov said the danger of a WWWIII was “real”.
“The danger is serious, it is real, you can’t underestimate it,” Mr Lavrov told the Interfax news agency.
Of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, he said he was confident that “everything will of course finish with the signing of an accord.
“But the parameters of this accord will be defined by the state of the fighting that will have taken place at the moment the accord becomes reality,” he added.
UKRAINE CAN BEAT RUSSIA WITH ‘RIGHT EQUIPMENT’
The United States believes Kyiv can win the war against Russia if it has the “right equipment”, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Monday, as strikes on railway infrastructure in the central Ukraine killed at least five.
A landmark visit by Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ukraine came as the war entered its third month, with thousands killed and millions displaced by the fighting.
The bloody conflict has triggered an outburst of support from Western nations that has seen a deluge of weapons pour into Ukraine to help beat back the Russian invaders.
“The first step in winning is believing that you can win. And so they believe that we can win,” Austin told a group of journalists after he and Blinken met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We believe that we can win, they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support.”
The meeting between the two sides lasted three hours and was “very productive and detailed”, according to a Pentagon spokesman, adding that Mr Zelenskyy was also briefed on a security summit in Germany on Tuesday among Western allies.
Following the talks, Austin said the US hoped the Russian military would be exhausted in Ukraine, preventing it from launching further invasions.
“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” said Austin.
For months, Mr Zelenskyy has been begging for heavy weapons – including artillery and fighter jets – from Western countries, vowing his forces could turn the tide of the war with more firepower.
The calls appear to be resonating now, with a host of NATO countries pledging to provide a range of heavy weapons and equipment to Ukraine, despite protests from Moscow.
The US has been a leading donor of finance and weaponry to Ukraine and a key sponsor of sanctions targeting Russia, but had not yet sent any top officials to Kyiv, while several European leaders have travelled there to underscore their support.
“Many countries are going to come forward and provide additional munitions and howitzers. So we’re going to push as hard as we can, as quickly as we can, to get them what they need,” Austin later said in reference to Tuesday’s summit in Germany.
The highly sensitive trip by two of US President Joe Biden’s top cabinet members came as fighting continued across swathes of Ukraine, casting a long shadow over Easter celebrations in the largely Orthodox country.
Following a weekend full of fighting, at least five people were killed and another 18 injured on Monday after a Russia rocket attack targeted railway infrastructure in the central Ukraine region of Vinnytsia.
“Rescue operations are under way, investigators, prosecutors and other services are working at the scene,” the office of the Ukrainian prosecutor general said in a statement on social media.
Russian forces have been widely accused of targeting civilian infrastructure throughout the Kremlin’s two-month military assault on its pro-democratic neighbour, allegations Moscow denies.
The attacks came as Russia’s defence ministry announced a ceasefire around the sprawling Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, following calls over the weekend to pause fighting to allow civilians to leave.
Ukraine says hundreds of its forces and civilians are holed up inside Azovstal, and Kyiv has repeatedly called for a ceasefire to allow civilians to safely exit the shattered city.
A video posted by the far-right Azov Regiment, whose fighters are based in Azovstal, showed war-weary women and children sheltering in the plant’s underground bunkers, pleading for relief.
“There are 600 people here. No water, no food. What are we going to do here? How long will we stay here?” asked one woman.
“We haven’t been out for two months now. I don’t even know what the weather is like there. It feels like it’s still February 28,” said another woman.
Mariupol, which the Kremlin claims to have “liberated”, is pivotal to Russia’s war plans to forge a land bridge to Russian-occupied Crimea – and possibly beyond, as far as Moldova.
‘UKRAINE MISSILE STRIKES’ BLOW UP RUSSIAN OIL DEPOT
An oil depot in the Russian city of Bryansk, 100km north of the Ukrainian border, has ignited.
Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed to the Kremlin-backed television and news agency RT that there was “ignition” at the oil depot after reports of explosions.
The Transneft-Druzhba Oil Depot caught fire at 2am local time (midday AEDT) before a second fire broke out at a nearby military facility around 15 minutes later, Russian state media said.
“According to unconfirmed reports, the second source of fire originates (sic) in the area where the military unit of the 120th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defence is located,” RT reported.
Bryansk is an administrative centre near the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, and is about 380km from Moscow.
Video showing the moment one of the fires broke out appeared to capture the sound of an incoming missile before a large explosion and fireball.
Bryansk is a hub for Russian forces battling Ukraine in Donbas, while the Druzhba pipeline is one of the main routes for Russian oil to reach Europe.
On Monday, local time, Greenpeace activists in Norway blocked a Russian oil tanker from unloading its cargo near Oslo for several hours, saying the shipment was helping to finance Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “warfare”.
The Hong Kong-registered Ust Luga, leased by Russian oil company Novatek, was carrying 95,000 tonnes of fuel bound for Esso’s terminal in southeast Norway, Greenpeace said in a statement.
The tanker was coming from its namesake Russian city, near Saint Petersburg, according to the Marine Traffic website.
Greenpeace activists in a small boat chained themselves to the ship, while others in kayaks unfurled banners reading “oil fuels war,” the group said.
Some activists were stopped by police before they could take part in the action. After several hours, police removed 20 activists who had chained themselves to the ship, police said in a statement.
‘MORE LIVES AT RISK’
The United Nations Ukraine crisis co-ordinator, Amin Awad, has called for an “immediate stop” to fighting in Mariupol to allow the evacuation of trapped civilians in the battered city.
“The lives of tens of thousands, including women, children and older people, are at stake in Mariupol,” Mr Awad said in a statement.
“We need a pause in fighting right now to save lives.
“The longer we wait the more lives will be at risk. They must be allowed to safely evacuate now, today. Tomorrow could be too late.”
His call came after an attempted evacuation from Mariupol by Ukraine had failed Saturday, with Kyiv saying it was “thwarted” by Russian forces.
The UN statement said there was an estimated 100,000 civilians trapped in the city, which has been heavily destroyed after being besieged by Russian forces for weeks.
Mr Awad said Orthodox Easter, which is celebrated in both Russia and Ukraine, provided an opportunity to halt hostilities.
“At a time of a rare calendar alignment of the religious holidays of Orthodox Easter, Passover and Ramadan, it is the time to focus on our common humanity, setting divisions aside,” Mr Awad said.
But hopes for an Easter ceasefire were dashed this weekend as fighting raged in eastern and southern Ukraine.
On Sunday, local time, Ukraine invited Russia to talks near the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters and civilians are holding out in a city largely under Moscow’s control, Kyiv said Sunday. Talks near the sprawling steel works would provide a dramatic and symbolic backdrop because the site is the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in the strategic port.
“We invited Russians to hold a special round of talks on the spot right next to the walls of Azovstal,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an aide to Mr Zelenskyy.
Earlier in the day, Kyiv called for a truce in battered Mariupol for Orthodox Easter, celebrated in both Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine said on Sunday, local time, that Russia was “continuously attacking” the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where Ukrainian servicemen defending the city are holed up.
The nationalist Azov regiment, at the forefront of the battles with Russian forces, has said civilians are also trapped in the plant.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to keep the plant under siege this weekend.
There are fears of more civilian deaths, as a cemetery near Mariupol has undergone large extensions. Satellite images reveal new excavations at Vynohradne, 12 kilometres east of Mariupol, including new graves and long trenches.
It comes as the world’s largest security body said on Sunday it is “extremely concerned” after several of its Ukrainian members are missing, believed to have been arrested in pro-Russian separatist territories in the country’s east.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) evacuated many of its staff from the country but many stayed.
“The OSCE is extremely concerned that a number of @OSCE_SMM national mission members have been deprived of their liberty in Donetsk and Lugansk,” it said in a tweet Sunday.
The security services of the Lugansk separatists said this month they had arrested two members of the OSCE mission, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
On Sunday, the US ambassador to the OSCE, Michael Carpenter, called for the body’s members to be released.
“Russia’s lies claiming Ukrainian @OSCE_SMM staff spied for the Ukrainian government are reprehensible,” he said on Twitter.
Fighting intensified over the weekend with civilians killed in Ukraine’s Black Sea city of Odessa after a Russian strike on a residential building on Saturday that killed eight people, including a baby.
Tributes have poured in for the mum and her baby killed in the attack.
Valeria Hlodan and her three month old daughter Kira were among eight people to die in Saturday’s barbaric attack which left 18 others injured.
Her husband Yuriy led tributes by posting a photo of his late wife and daughter.
The distraught dad wrote: “My dear ones, Kingdom of Heaven! You are in our hearts!”
In the photo a charming young mother and her three-month-old child. Their lives were taken by Russia today when a 🇷🇺 rocker hit a residential building in #Odesa.
— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine - Ukrainian Parliament (@ua_parliament) April 23, 2022
Russia is a terrorist country.
We will never forgive and forget!
RIP, our angels.#StopPutin#StopRussiapic.twitter.com/otaBhVjAHE
The picture was shared on the Ukrainian parliament’s official Twitter account.
“A charming young mother and her three-month-old child,” the tweet read.
Nearby, a depot containing weapons delivered by the United States and European countries to Ukrainian forces was struck by a missile, Russia’s defence ministry announced.
It is among 22 Ukrainian military sites Russia targeted on Saturday, local time, while Russian warplanes attacked 79 military sites, the ministry added.
Originally published as Ukraine-Russia war could last ten years, says UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss
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