Ukraine to get US land mines for use against Russian forces: Reports

US President Biden’s determination to supply antipersonnel mines comes aft Ukraine fired ATACMS missiles into Russia.

US President Joe Biden has approved providing antipersonnel onshore mines to Ukraine successful what has been seen arsenic different argumentation reversal connected weapons provided to Kyiv by nan outgoing United States administration, according to reports.

The US expects Ukraine to usage nan onshore mines successful its ain territory, though it has committed not to usage them successful areas populated pinch civilians, a US charismatic told nan Reuters news agency connected Wednesday.

The Washington Post first reported nan move by Biden, which reverses his earlier reluctance to supply onshore mines owed to concerns complete nan consequence they coming to civilian populations, which antimine campaigners opportunity is unacceptably high.

Ukraine has received US-made antitank mines passim nan warfare against invading Russian forces, but nan summation of antipersonnel mines is aimed astatine stalling nan expanding beforehand of Russian crushed forces successful caller months, a US charismatic told nan Reuters news agency, speaking connected information of anonymity.

The US onshore mines to beryllium provided to Ukraine are “non-persistent”, nan US charismatic said, meaning they require a artillery to detonate and will not detonate erstwhile nan artillery runs retired aft a preset play of time.

The proviso of US onshore mines comes connected nan heels of Ukraine’s usage of US-provided ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles to onslaught targets wrong Russian territory for nan first time, pursuing newly-granted support from Biden that precocious US weaponry could beryllium utilized offensively against targets successful Russia.

Moscow warned connected Tuesday that it would respond to Ukraine’s firing of nan longer-range ATACMS missiles, which reportedly deed targets successful Russia’s Bryansk region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said nan rocket onslaught showed that Western countries wanted to “escalate” nan conflict.

“We will beryllium taking this arsenic a qualitatively caller shape of nan Western warfare against Russia. And we will respond accordingly,” Lavrov told a news convention astatine nan G20 acme successful Brazil.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree connected Tuesday lowering nan period for utilizing atomic weapons, a move that nan White House, United Kingdom and European Union condemned arsenic “irresponsible”.

The Kremlin besides said connected Wednesday that a typical communications hotline established decades agone to avert imaginable atomic conflict betwixt nan US and Russia is not presently successful usage arsenic tensions escalate betwixt Moscow and Washington amid Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine.

“We person a typical unafraid statement for connection betwixt nan 2 presidents, Russia and nan United States. Moreover, moreover for video communication,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA news agency.

But erstwhile asked whether this transmission was presently successful use, Peskov said, “No.”

The hotline betwixt Moscow and Washington was established successful 1963 to trim nan misperceptions that stoked nan Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 by allowing nonstop connection betwixt nan US and Russian leaders.

Russian diplomats opportunity nan situation betwixt Moscow and Washington now is comparable to nan Cuban crisis, erstwhile nan 2 Cold War superpowers came closest to intentional atomic war, and that nan West is making a correction if it thinks Russia will backmost down complete Ukraine.

Source

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Al Jazeera

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Al Jazeera and news agencies