Ukraine: UN secretary-general turns to Putin as Russia cuts off Polish gas
Written byTimes Magazine
It was a day of diplomacy for Ukraine as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres traveled to Russia and met with President Vladimir Putin just as Russia showed the first signs of a threat to cut gas supplies to EU countries.
Guterres explained that the United Nations saw it as an invasion and said he was prepared to use resources to evacuate civilians stranded in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, a flashpoint in a conflict in which soldiers and civilians have been in steel for weeks under siege.
Putin said fighting in Mariupol had stopped, and Russian troops were doing nothing to prevent civilians from leaving. He accused the Ukrainian army of detaining civilians as human shields. However, Ukrainian defenders say attacks continue, and civilians are trapped.
A senior US defense official has warned the West that it must "move at wartime speed" to support Ukraine's military war against the Russian invasion. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a retired four-star general, told 40 defense ministers that the coming weeks were "crucial for Ukraine."
Germany has slightly changed its position not to supply weapons to Ukraine. The country has long maintained a policy of not exporting military equipment but has now agreed to provide about 50 mobile anti-aircraft systems.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has alerted that NATO support for Ukraine could escalate the conflict into a world war. Britain's defense secretary said it was "completely legal" for Ukraine to use military equipment donated by Britain to attack targets in Russia.
Moscow later said it was ready to attack "decision centers" in the Ukrainian capital with an "appropriate response" - and would not be prevented from attacking them even if Western military advisers were present.
This prompted British defense officials to clarify James Happy's comments, stressing that Britain was not involved in the referral process. Russia's longstanding threat to cut gas supplies to EU countries took shape when Poland's national gas company PGNiG said Russia had been suspending its natural gas supply deal since early Wednesday.
Russia supplies about 40% of EU gas imports, and the continent does not have enough of it. Amid rising tensions, Russia demands that "enemy countries" pay for energy in its currency, the ruble.
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