De manoeuvres rond Oekraïne gaan door alsof een oorlog al weken gaande is. NATO doet dit, Rusland doet dat, etcetera.

Het laatste nieuws is dat de Amerikaanse troepen die naar Polen komen, daar vermoedelijk langere tijd zullen verblijven. De NATO spreekt er thans in dergelijke termen over:

As the first waves of at least 2,000 US troops began arriving in Poland at the start of this week as part of the mission to bolster NATO’s ‘eastern flank’ amid Washington fears that Russia is poised to invade Ukraine “any day now“ – the Western military alliance says its mulling a longer term military presence in Eastern Europe.

Dat nu “elke dag een Russische invasie” wordt verwacht is een houding die nog wel een paar maanden in stand kan blijven, zodat deze aankondiging haar eigen logica had.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg indicated Monday that a “longer term” presence may be needed in Eastern Europe and that Brussels is reviewing the strategy as part of its force posture in face of Russia.
“We are considering more longer-term adjustments to our posture, our presence in the eastern part of the alliance. No final decision has been made on that but there is a process now going on within NATO,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Het Pentagon plant thans openlijk een evacuatie van Oekraïne – na het fiasco in Afghanistan vorig jaar was dat te verwachten.

Apparently fearing another Afghan evacuation disaster, the White House has approved a new Pentagon plan authorizing US troops currently in Poland to spearhead the evacuation of Americans in Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion. At this point, it’s being described as a contingency plan but requiring the necessary logistics to be in place, with troops on standby.
According to details revealed in The Wall Street Journal, “Some of the 1,700 troops from the 82nd Airborne Corps being deployed to Poland to bolster that ally will in coming days begin to set up checkpoints, tent camps and other temporary facilities inside Poland’s border with Ukraine in preparation to serve arriving Americans, U.S. officials said.”

Met argusogen kijkt men intussen naar de aankomst van een versterking van de Russische marine in de Zwarte Zee, die daar komt deelnemen aan ‘een eerder geplande oefening’.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has confirmed Tuesday that it has sent six warships toward the Black Sea from the Mediterranean ahead of large-scale naval drills. The military said it was pre-planned, though tensions over Ukraine are on edge, while Western media reports are noting the warship movements are a “show of strength”.
“The six ships are scheduled to pass through Turkey’s straits to the Black Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday, Turkish sources said,” Al Jazeera writes. “The vessels include the Korolev, the Minsk and the Kaliningrad, which are set to navigate the Bosphorus on Tuesday, while the Pyotr Morgunov, the Georgy Pobedonosets and the Olenegorsky Gornyak are expected to pass on Wednesday.”

Maar de meeste Amerikaanse aandacht gaat vooralsnog naar de Russische landmacht die oefent samen met het leger van Wit-Rusland – in Wit-Rusland. 30.000 Amerikanen worden geacht thans in Oekraïne te verblijven:

It’s commonly estimated that some 30,000 American citizens are currently in Ukraine. Last month there was open contention between Kiev and Washington when the State Department began advising families of embassy staff to begin departing the country.
Ukrainian officials said the move was “premature” and unwarranted at that point, also at a moment the White House was claiming a Russian offensive was “imminent” – also which never materialized. The “imminent” claim too was deemed wildly inaccurate by Ukraine officials. Ukraine’s leaders have also been trying to keep the population from panicking when nothing has actually happened yet.
President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile has told The Wall Street Journal that a Russian invasion is still unlikely. Zelensky [..] worries that dire public warnings from the U.S. about a possible invasion are serving to amplify Russian efforts to destabilize Ukraine and its economy.”

Russian warships enter Black Seapic.twitter.com/k046VSLtby

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) February 8, 2022

Syrië
De spanningen in Oekraïne komen niet alleen. De side-show in Noord-Syrië krijgt intussen ook steeds meer momentum.

Duur: 3:49 min. dit commentaar is een helder gevisualiseerde samenvatting van het betreffende gelinkte artikel.

Turkije
In Turkije wordt ondertussen geïnteresseerd gekeken hoe de gebeurtenissen in Oekraïne in het voordeel van het eigen land kunnen worden gemanipuleerd. President Erdogan is er erg druk mee.

Nog meer duiding vindt u hier, bij Wynia;sweek.

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Meer over Oekraïne en de gebeurtenissen in dat land leest u hier.