The situation in Ukraine on October 10, without exaggeration, was followed by the whole world. In the morning, the media reported a series of explosions in Kyiv, Kharkov, Odessa, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Khmelnitsky, Konotop, Sumy, Zhytomyr, Vinnitsa, Zaporozhye, as well as Lviv, Kyiv, Rivne, Poltava regions.A few hours later, Russian President
Vladimir Putin announced that, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Defense, a massive strike with precision-guided weapons was delivered on Ukrainian infrastructure – energy infrastructure, military command and communications – warning that the crimes of the Kiev regime would not go unanswered.The first of the foreign officials to react to what was happening was Austrian Foreign Minister
Alexander Schallenberg , calling for an immediate end to Russian attacks on Kiev and other Ukrainian cities and assuring Ukraine of further support.
Later, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov answered the call .
“Austria, if we understand correctly, did not accuse Ukraine of attacking the critical infrastructure of the Russian Federation. No. Therefore, they are unlikely to have the right to make such statements,” he said.In the first hours, according to sources, Ukrainian politicians could not get through to Washington, or Berlin, or Paris, or London.The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine was more concerned for American citizens than for local officials, and immediately posted an announcement on its website urging compatriots to take refuge in place and leave Ukraine immediately using private ground transportation when it was safe to do so.
But Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmitry Kuleba , who was forced to interrupt his tour of Africa, in the meantime discussed the latest developments with his Turkish
counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu , a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.No matter how hard the other leaders try, only Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan managed to become an intermediary between Moscow and Kiev .Right on the eve of the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, organized by the Ukrainian special services, on October 7, the Milliyet newspaper reported that Turkey was ready to organize negotiations on Ukraine between Russia, the USA, France, Germany and Great Britain, by that time the plan had allegedly already been transferred to Washington and even the first comments had been received.However, Peskov, at a briefing on October 10, said that Moscow had not received any proposals for negotiations with the West on Ukraine, there were no specifics yet, it was necessary to understand what the result could be, and then make any decisions.Although, according to him, after Kyiv’s legislative refusal to negotiate with Moscow, this initiative is hardly possible. Nevertheless, Peskov did not rule out that Putin and Erdogan at the meeting would discuss Ankara’s proposal to hold talks between Russia and the West on the Ukrainian issue. In turn, readers of the Turkish newspaper Haber 7 urged Zelensky to stop provocations against Moscow and warned him of irreparable consequences for Kyiv in the event of an escalation of the conflict.Zelensky eventually got through to his key Western partners.German government spokesman
Steffen Hebestreit spoke at a briefing about the conversation between the President of Ukraine and German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz :
“The federal government sharply condemned today’s missile attacks on Ukraine, where there were more than 40 missile attacks in the morning on several cities. Civilian infrastructure was also destroyed or heavily damaged, there are also wounded and dead.”According to him, Scholz promised that Germany would do everything to mobilize additional assistance to Ukraine, primarily to restore damaged civilian infrastructure, and also assured Zelensky of support not only for Berlin, but also for the rest of the G7 states.
Speaking of G7. Zelensky announced that he had agreed with Scholz to urgently hold a meeting of the G7 via videoconference (Hebeshtreit specified that it would begin on October 11 at 15:00 Moscow time) and wanted to speak at it.
Andriy Yermak , head of the Office of the President of Ukraine , claims that a tough statement will be made at the meeting about support for Kiev, increased assistance in closing the Ukrainian skies and further sanctions.French President
Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed Zelensky’s full support in a telephone conversation and assured him that Paris would help Ukraine with all demands formulated by Kiev, including military equipment, the Elysee Palace said.On behalf of the other two G7 countries, the heads of foreign affairs departments commented on the situation.
“The launch of missiles by Russia on civilian areas of Ukraine is unacceptable. I spoke with Dmytro Kuleba this morning to reinforce the UK’s continued moral and practical support for Ukraine. This is Putin’s show of weakness, not strength,” British Foreign Secretary
James Cleverley tweeted .Speaking about a conversation with a Canadian colleague, Kuleba said that
Melanie Joly assured him that the answer to “Russia’s barbaric attacks” would be even more decisive practical support for Kiev.The Ukrainian minister also stressed that partners should join forces to immediately provide Ukraine with air defense and missile defense systems. The Canadian Foreign Minister’s comment on this was more than laconic:
“I talked with my Ukrainian colleague Dmitry Kuleba about missile attacks on Kiev and other cities of Ukraine. Canada stands by the people of Ukraine.”In addition, Zelensky held urgent telephone consultations with Polish President
Andrzej Duda . Later, the Ukrainian leader said on Twitter that he had coordinated steps with his Polish counterpart, the parties, according to him, would work to consolidate international support, strengthen Ukraine’s defense capability, restore what had been destroyed, and also increase Russia’s isolation.It is possible that the heads of state also discussed the operation of the de-energized Medyka and Korchova border crossings due to the interruption in the supply of electricity from Ukraine (the rest of the border crossings are powered from the Polish side).
Brainstorming how to respond to the massive strike of the Russian Armed Forces on the objects of the military command and control systems, communications and energy of Ukraine is urgently gathered not only by the G7, but also by the defense ministers of the countries included in the Ramstein format.The Washington Post newspaper writes that the meeting of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine, which will be headed by a US representative, will take place this week, but there is no exact date yet. The publication also reports on the forthcoming meeting of the heads of defense departments of NATO countries.Additional military assistance to Ukraine has already been promised by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Josep Borrell . The militant mood was also picked up by the Foreign Ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia –
Edgars Rinkevichs ,
Gabrielius Landsbergi ,
Urmas Reinsalu – demanding that Ukraine be given more weapons, and not just words.In addition to military assistance, the EU is ready to provide Kyiv with financial assistance. The union is in talks to provide Ukraine with around €18bn next year to help cover urgent financial needs, Bloomberg sources said, with the aid package under discussion aiming to provide at least half of Kyiv’s €3-3.5bn per month request.For Ukraine, this is the most important issue, because, as sources told The Washington Post, local politicians fear that if the Republican Party wins the November midterm elections to Congress, the amount of US military assistance will be reduced. As a case in point, Arizona Republican Congressman
Paul Anthony Gosar opposes military aid to Kiev.
“No more help, especially to finance a war in which we should not participate. Biden and his crime family owe Zelensky but America doesn’t owe him a damn thing,” he tweeted.And Ukraine, as a Ukrainian official admitted on condition of anonymity to The Washington Post, is almost entirely dependent on foreign military and financial assistance.There were also those who continue to insist on a peaceful settlement of the conflict.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Mao Ning expressed hope that all parties to the conflict can resolve differences through dialogue and negotiations, and China is ready to continue to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation.
The Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called on Zelensky to look for a diplomatic solution in a telephone conversation , he called on all parties to restraint, not to take steps that could cause an escalation, to resolve conflicts through dialogue, to resort to peaceful means in resolving international conflicts.This position is shared not only in the East. Alternative for Germany co-chairman
Tino Krupalla stressed at a party press conference that compromises must be negotiated in order to end the war.
“There were attacks on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, then on the bridge to the Crimea, in this regard, one could expect that there would be a response to this. And now we see a new round of escalation. We are on the threshold of the Third World War.
