WASHINGTON D.C.: Amid mounting warnings that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come any day, the Pentagon said Sunday that the latest top-level US-Russian contacts did not provide “any cause for optimism.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby offered a grim assessment of the one-hour phone conversation Saturday between US President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“It’s certainly not a sign that things are moving in the right direction. It’s certainly not a sign that Mr. Putin has any intention to de-escalate. And it’s certainly not a sign that he is recommitting himself to a diplomatic path forward,” Kirby told “Fox News Sunday” when asked about the lack of fundamental change after the call.
“So, it does not give us any cause for optimism.”
US officials in recent days have issued a series of increasingly blunt warnings that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, and foreign countries have been rushing to evacuate their nationals.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that “a major military action could begin by Russia in Ukraine any day now.”
Sullivan used some of the most specific — and chilling — language yet employed by an American official, warning that an invasion is “likely to begin with a significant barrage of missiles and bomb attacks... so innocent civilians could be killed.”
That, he said, would be followed by a ground invasion in which “innocent civilians could get caught in the crossfire.”
Sullivan said Russia might yet opt for a diplomatic solution, but its forces near Ukraine’s borders are “in a position where they could launch a military action very, very rapidly.”
The growing drumbeat of warnings has infused diplomatic contacts with a sense of intense urgency.
Biden was set to speak to President Volodymyr Zelensky “in coming hours,” the Ukrainian leader’s office said Sunday.
And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was preparing to leave for talks in Kyiv and Moscow, vowed “tough” and immediate sanctions by Germany and its NATO and European allies should a Russian attack threaten Ukraine’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
Tensions are now at a “very critical, very dangerous” point, a German government source told reporters.
In London, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace expressed concern that diplomacy was having any effect.
“The worrying thing is that despite the massive amount of increased diplomacy, that military build-up has continued,” he told the Sunday Times. “It has not paused, it has continued.”
No ‘cause for optimism’ after Biden-Putin talks on Ukraine, says US
https://arab.news/jtwwd
No ‘cause for optimism’ after Biden-Putin talks on Ukraine, says US
- US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that “a major military action could begin by Russia in Ukraine any day now”
Trump says Australia will grant asylum to Iran women footballers
- Presenter on Iranian state TV had branded the players “wartime traitors” after they stood motionless during the anthem
MIAMI: US President Donald Trump said Monday that Australia had agreed to grant asylum to some of Iran’s visiting women’s football team, amid fears they could face retaliation back home for not singing the national anthem before a match.
The gesture ahead of the team’s Asian Cup match against South Korea last week was seen by many as an act of defiance against the Islamic republic just two days after the United States and Israel attacked it.
“I just spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, of Australia, concerning the Iranian National Women’s Soccer Team. He’s on it! Five have already been taken care of,” Trump said Monday on his Truth Social network, less than two hours after an initial post urging Australia to take them in.
Trump added that “some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return.”
There was no immediate comment from the Australian government, which has so far declined to say whether it could offer the players asylum.
Asked about their case on Sunday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia “stands in solidarity” with the people of Iran.
The son of Iran’s late shah, US-based Reza Pahlavi, warned on Monday that the refusal to sing the anthem could have “dire consequences,” and urged Australia to offer the team protection.
Trump then weighed in, pressing Albanese to “give ASYLUM” to the team and adding: “The US will take them if you won’t.”
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed,” the US leader said on Truth Social.
Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the monarchy, has billed himself as the man to lead a democratic transition to a secular Iran as the theocratic regime fights to survive.
Politicians, human rights activists and even “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling have also called for the team to be offered official protection.
“Please, protect these young women,” Rowling said in a post on social media.
‘Save our girls’
A presenter on Iranian state TV had branded the players “wartime traitors” after they stood motionless during the anthem before their match against South Korea.
In subsequent games, the players saluted and sang.
Crowds gathered outside the Gold Coast stadium where the side played their last match over the weekend, banging drums and shouting “regime change for Iran.”
They then surrounded the Iranian team bus, chanting “let them go” and “save our girls.”
On Monday, an AFP journalist saw members of the team speaking on phones from their balcony of their hotel.
Asked about the possibility of granted asylum, a spokesperson for Australia’s Home Affairs department told AFP earlier it “cannot comment on the circumstances of individuals.”
Amnesty International campaigner Zaki Haidari said they faced persecution, or worse, if they were sent home.
“Some of these team members probably have had their families already threatened,” Haidari told AFP.
“Them going back... who knows what sort of punishment they will receive?“
Despite being heavily monitored, the side would have a “small window of opportunity” to seek asylum at the airport, he said.
Iran’s embassy in Australia did not respond to a request for comment.
