Rusa is bringing its accusations, criticized by the West as unfounded, that Ukraine is planning to use a “dirty” radioactive bomb in the war before the UN Security Council. A corresponding discussion of the most powerful body of the United Nations behind closed doors is to take place on Tuesday after a meeting on the conflict in Syria – probably in the early afternoon (local time). That was announced on Monday from diplomatic circles in New York.
Despite Western rebuffs, Russia is sticking to the claim that Kyiv wants to discredit Moscow with a “dirty” – i.e. nuclear-contaminated – bomb. Russia made the allegations public on Sunday; Ukraine as well as the USA, France and Great Britain rejected them. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there was “concrete information about the institutes in Ukraine that have the technology to build such a “dirty bomb”.
Meanwhile, Kyiv itself requested inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Experts from the organization would examine two Ukrainian nuclear facilities mentioned by Russia in the coming days, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi announced on Monday evening. However, these locations would be regularly inspected by the IAEA anyway, one of them most recently in September. “No unknown nuclear activity or materials were discovered there.”
US National Security Council communications director John Kirby said Monday there was absolutely nothing to the Russian allegation. “It’s just not true. We know it’s not true,” Kirby said. “We have seen in the past that the Russians have occasionally blamed others for things they intended to do.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia not to use its “false claim” about a nuclear-contaminated bomb as an excuse for a further escalation of the war against Ukraine. Russia had previously claimed that chemical and biological weapons were being developed in Ukraine. There was no real evidence of that either.
Selenskyj acknowledges Russia’s broad failure
Eight months after the start of the Russian war of aggression, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attested to Moscow’s failure on a broad front. “Ukraine is breaking the so-called second strongest army in the world,” Zelenskyy said in his video message distributed in Kyiv on Monday evening. With regard to the start of the war on February 24, the President said that Russia’s military influence had fizzled out today. “The feeling of defeat in Russia is growing,” he said. The country is becoming increasingly isolated internationally.
Zelenskyy said, referring to Moscow’s allegations about a “dirty bomb”, for example, Russia must now beg Iran for drones and invent “various nonsense” about Ukraine in order to obtain concessions from the West.
“Hardest Winter in History”
Zelenskyi reiterated that despite Russian attacks, Ukraine has defended its independence and continues to liberate its occupied territories every day. At the same time, in view of the energy plants destroyed by Russian missiles, Zelenskyy swore the country to a winter “that will be the hardest in our history”.
USA: No negotiations with Russia without Ukraine
The White House reiterated that the US would not engage in direct negotiations with Russia without Kiev’s involvement. That’s what they said from the start, “and that remains the approach,” said National Security Council communications director John Kirby on Monday. Earlier, in a letter to the White House, 30 MPs from US President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party suggested keeping the door open for direct negotiations with Moscow in order to achieve a quicker end to the war. Kirby emphasized that from the US perspective only the Ukrainians should decide on negotiations.
