biden putin ukraine zelensky nuclear war

The war in Ukraine raises daily fears of the explosion of a nuclear conflict. US President Joe Biden has issued a stern warning: “For the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, there is the threat of a nuclear ‘Armageddon’.” Meanwhile, the European Parliament has passed a resolution for “a rapid response in the event of a nuclear attack” by Russia.

Biden delivered his speech at an election event in New York, invited to the residence of James Murdoch, one of the sons of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Midterm elections will be held on November 8, passing the half term of the presidential term, under which American voters will be able to renew the House of Representatives and the Senate. Also for this reason Biden, struggling in the polls, is raising his voice and calling for a catch-up around the ruling Democrats. “Putin is not joking when he talks about the possible use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, because his army is in trouble,” the president said.

Joe Biden. Photo Ansa / Epa Youri Gripas

Faced with this situation, the European Union does not stand idly by. In a resolution that the European Parliament approved by a large majority, the EU undertook to prepare a rapid response to a possible Russian nuclear attack in Ukraine. The resolution also calls on member states to make a big increase in military assistance to Kyiv. In addition to calling for the condemnation of Putin’s farce of referendums and nuclear threats, and the creation of an ad hoc international tribunal for crimes against Ukraine.

Ukraine, Zelensky calls for NATO

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that more than 500 square kilometers of territory and dozens of towns and villages are being liberated from Russian occupation in the Kherson region: “The day will surely come – he said. he says – where we will also report successes in the Zaporizhzhia region”. In those areas “which are still controlled by the Russians. The day will come when we will also talk about the liberation of Crimea. This prospect is obvious”. But a speech by Zelensky himself at the Australian Lowy Institute, a think-tank that conducts policy research, sparked controversy on Oct. 6. As well as a severe reaction from Moscow. The Ukrainian president said that to “exclude the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons”, NATO “should strike preemptively”.

Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo Ansa

Cracked relations with Washington

The Ukrainian armed forces are in good spirits because thanks to increasingly sophisticated armaments from Europe and especially from the United States, they are gradually regaining the territories occupied by the Russians in the north, east and south since February 24.

Alexander Dugin with behind him a photo of his daughter Darya Dugina, killed in an attack in Moscow on August 20, 2022. Photo Ansa / Epa Maxim Shipenkov

But relations with their protectors, the United States, are cracking. Proof of the growing tensions between Ukraine and its main ally, the story of the murderous attack, last August, against Darya Dugina, the daughter of the ultra-nationalist philosopher Alexandr Dugin, the so-called “ideologue” of Putin. According to US intelligence agencies, Ukraine ordered the attack. The Russian secret services (FSB) had implicated the Ukrainian intelligence agencies: kyiv, however, has always denied any involvement and continues to do so. For the United States, operations such as the one that resulted in the death of Dugina would expose Ukraine to the risk of in turn suffering similar attacks or leading to an escalation of the conflict.

Biden, critic of Zelensky

The real point, however, is otherwise. Why are US security apparatuses filtering this accusation against Ukraine from the pages of newspapers? Intelligence sources who spoke to The New York Times clarified that the US Secret Service had no involvement whatsoever in the attack that killed Darya Dugina. And that they didn’t know about the operation until it was over.

A young Russian, forced to go to war because of military conscription, gives a last hug to his family in Moscow. Photo Ansa / Epa Maxim Shipenkov

Otherwise, they would have advised against proceeding. The United States also reportedly blamed the Kyiv government for the attack on Dugina. And they reportedly complained about the lack of transparency in sharing intelligence information. Already last June, with a surprise exit, Joe Biden had publicly criticized Zelensky. “He didn’t want to listen,” said the White House chief, American warnings ahead of the Russian invasion. Now, another sign of intolerance: are US interests beginning to diverge from those of Ukraine’s all-out defense?