Tension remains very high on the border between Ukraine and Russia, where Moscow troops are reportedly preparing to launch an attack to occupy the entire Donbass area. But, based on the most worrying scenarios, the Kremlin armed forces could target the capital Kiev. And, according to analysts, a Russian invasion of Ukraine could lead to up to 50,000 civilian deaths and injuries and result in the fall of the government in a few days.
In this escalation continues, while the US and EU countries - including Italy - have ordered their personnel and their citizens to leave Ukrainian territory, a US submarine, Virginia class, has been intercepted in Russian territorial waters.
An episode that gives the pulse of the highly explosive situation. The submarine in question, the Moscow Defense Ministry explained, was surprised by the Russian fleet in the Pacific Ocean, rejected the invitation to leave and was subsequently forced to "leave Russian territorial waters at full speed". The Kremlin has not provided further details on the ways adopted to avert the "threat".
In these hours, US President Joe Biden had a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin. A one-hour conversation, during which the leader of Washington warned his Russian counterpart, in a "very clear" way, that if Russia invades Ukraine, the United States and its allies will respond "decisively" and they will impose "severe costs" on Moscow.
The Kremlin, for its part, dismisses the repeated alarm messages sent by the US to its allies as "hysteria".
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned his Russian counterpart Serghei Lavrov that if Moscow invades Ukraine, this would result in a "resolute, massive and united transatlantic response".
Blinken "made it clear that the diplomatic path to resolving the crisis remains open but requires a de-escalation on the part of Moscow and a commitment to negotiate in good faith".
Lavrov, on the other hand, made it known that the United States "ignored Russia's demands for its security".
French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke with Putin. From what has been learned, even the Elysée chief has expressed the concerns of his European partners and allies to the Russian president "and told Putin that" a sincere dialogue is not compatible with an escalation ".
"It is necessary to avoid further escalations, we await signals from Moscow", said Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio instead. "Italy fully recognizes the territorial integrity of Ukraine and recognizes the right of all sovereign states to determine their own alliances ".
(Unioneonline / lf)
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