US Hosts Military Talks on Ukraine in Germany

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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “never imagined the whole world would rally behind Ukraine so swiftly and surely,” as the United States convened a meeting of more than 40 countries to coordinate security assistance for Ukraine.

As he opened the talks at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Austin said the aim was to both “help Ukraine to win the fight against Russia’s unjust invasion and to help build up Ukraine for tomorrow’s challenges.”

The meeting follows a trip by Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Kyiv where they pledged more military assistance for Ukraine and to continue to rally other nations to contribute.

“Russia’s invasion is indefensible and so are Russian atrocities,” Lloyd said Tuesday. “We all start today from a position of moral clarity. Russia is waging a war of choice to indulge the ambitions of one man. Ukraine is fighting a war of necessity to defend its democracy its sovereignty and its citizens.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned of the danger that the conflict could erupt into World War III, saying Monday that “NATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy.”

“The danger is serious, it is real, you can’t underestimate it,” he told the Interfax news agency.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba later tweeted that Russia had lost its “last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine.”

“This only means Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine,” Kuleba said. “Therefore, the world must double down on supporting Ukraine so that we prevail and safeguard European and global security.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, welcomes UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the talks in Moscow, April 26, 2022.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday at the start of a meeting with Lavrov in Moscow that while Russia and the United Nations have “different interpretations of what’s happening in Ukraine,” there is still the possibility for a serious conversation about working to minimize suffering and “end the war as soon as possible.”

Guterres, who is also meeting Tuesday with Putin, said he wanted to further address the wider impacts of the conflict on the world’s most vulnerable populations amid rising food and energy prices.

Lavrov welcomed Guterres and the UN’s desire for dialogue, while accusing Western governments of blurting principles of multilateralism and instead undertaking a unilateral approach to the world.

Human Rights Watch called for Russia to ensure civilians in the besieged southern city of Mariupol can leave safely and said Guterres should prioritize the issue in his meetings in Russia.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday it expects the conflict could eventually drive 8.3 million people to flee Ukraine. So far, nearly 5.3 million refugees have left the country since Russia invaded in late February, with more than 2.9 million going to Poland. Spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told reporters that another 7.7 million people have been displaced within Ukraine.

Britain’s defense ministry said Tuesday that Russian forces are “likely attempting to encircle heavily fortified Ukrainian positions” in eastern Ukraine. A ministry statement said the eastern city of Kreminna “has reportedly fallen” and that Russian forces are moving toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Russian attacks Monday hit rail and fuel installations far from the front line of its eastern offensive.

The chief of the state-run Ukrainian Railways said five railway facilities were hit early in central and western Ukraine, including a missile attack near the western city of Lviv. At least five people were killed by Russian strikes in the central Vynnytsia region, Ukrainian authorities said.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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