Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues his shuttle flights in support of his country externally and on the domestic front, but this time with a visit to the small snake island in the Black Sea.

 

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Edited by| Hugh Gey

 

Politic section -  CJ journalist

Ukraine conflict news section      

 

snake island – July,8,2023

 

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Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Snake Island has been one of the bets in the balances of the region, that rocky mass that the Russians tried to wrest from Kiev in the vicinity of the Danube Delta and from the Romanian coasts.

On its rocky terrain, the defending Ukrainians challenged a Russian warship at the beginning of the invasion, which Zelensky visited as the conflict entered its 500th day.

Snake Island has long been a Russian target as a strategic location for monitoring European ships moving in the region, as well as Romania's possession of gas reserves in the Black Sea in that region.

Since the battles began in February 2022, Vladimir Putin's troops realized that shooting down Snake Island would allow them to tighten the blockade of the Ukrainian coasts, and earlier Moscow successfully installed radars in it.

On the other hand, US President Joe Biden said Friday that his country's decision to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs was "very difficult", but Kiev needs them, given the depletion of its ammunition in the face of the Russian attack.

"It was a very difficult decision by me," Biden said. By the way, I have discussed it with our allies".

"The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition," he said, adding, "This is a munitions war. They are short of that ammunition and we are running out of it,"he said. He stressed that he ultimately decided to "follow the recommendation of the Ministry of Defense" to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs for a "temporary"period.

He stressed that " the main thing is either they have these weapons to stop the Russians now and prevent them from stopping the Ukrainian counteroffensive ... Or they don't have it. And I think they need it".

Biden said he did not think there was a consensus in NATO on granting Ukraine membership of the military alliance at the moment in light of the Russian offensive.

"I don't think there is a consensus in NATO about whether Ukraine will be included in the alliance family now or not, right now, in the midst of the war,"he added.

Earlier, the White House confirmed its decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs, considering that this step, which constitutes an important threshold in the type of armament provided to Kiev to counter the Russian attack, is "the right one".

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the move was a" difficult decision, and we postponed it "for a while, stressing that Biden made it in consultation with his allies and after a" unanimous recommendation " from his administration.

Sullivan also stressed that the Ukrainians had provided "written" guarantees on how these weapons would be used to minimize"the dangers they pose to civilians".

These munitions will come as part of a new military aid package for Ukraine worth 800 million dollars, bringing the total military assistance provided by Washington to Kiev since the start of the war to more than 41 billion dollars.

The new assistance includes armor, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, as well as cluster munitions and other weapons.

The term "cluster munition" refers to any weapon system that fires a set of smaller explosive munitions at a specific target, which are designed to explode before, at or after impact. Such munitions can be fired by shells or artillery and even from bombs from airplanes.

The number of bombs in such ammunition can range from dozens to hundreds. Several countries have banned the use of these munitions under the 2008 Oslo agreement, but many countries, such as the United States and Ukraine, have not ratified it.

Sullivan strongly defended the White House's decision to provide Ukraine with such weapons, which is of concern to humanitarian organizations.

He considered that "artillery is at the heart of the conflict" in Ukraine, and that Russia has been using this type of weapon since the start of its offensive on the territory of its neighbor in early 2022.

The U.S. decision drew international criticism. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his desire not to see these weapons used on the ground.

A spokesman said it "does not wish to see the continued use of cluster munitions on the battlefield".

Human Rights Watch stated that"the transfer of these weapons (to Ukraine) will inevitably cause long-term suffering to civilians".

Amnesty International said that the Biden administration should "recognize that any decision that allows the widespread use of cluster bombs in this war will lead to one predictable result: the additional killing of civilians".

"Cluster munitions are an indiscriminate weapon that poses a great danger to the lives of civilians even long after the end of the conflict," she said, stressing that their use "does not comply with international law".

For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Ukraine "deserves to join NATO," after a meeting in Istanbul with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Erdogan discussed the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine during his meeting with Zelensky

Kiev is seeking to join the Atlantic, but the United States warned on Friday that Ukraine "will not join NATO" after the alliance's summit scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Vilnius.

Erdogan announced that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will visit Turkey "next month", stressing the need for "Russia and Ukraine to return to peace talks".

He added that he discussed the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine during his meeting with Zelensky.

Erdogan, speaking alongside his Ukrainian counterpart, also expressed hope for the extension of the Ukrainian grain export agreement concluded in July 2022 under the auspices of the United Nations and Turkey.

"We hope to extend the agreement," the Turkish president said, while Russia had stated that it sees no reason to extend it when it expires on July 17.

Zelensky arrived on Friday evening in Istanbul, where he met with Erdogan, a few days before an important NATO summit.

Zelensky's visit to Turkey is the last stop on an international tour aimed at obtaining more Western weapons and supporting Kiev's efforts to join the Atlantic, noting that it is his first visit to this country since the start of the Russian offensive.

In addition to the Atlantic summit, the talks between Zelensky and his Turkish counterpart, who has close ties with Kiev and Moscow at the same time, discussed the agreement that allows the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea despite the war.

Before arriving in Istanbul, Zelensky visited Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. "I think there is not enough unity of position on this issue, and this poses a threat to NATO's strength," he said in Bratislava, adding that "this is extremely important for the security of the whole world". "We expect unity from NATO because its strength is in its unity,"he stressed.

 

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