At a missile plant in Alabama, President Biden bragged about Ukrainian parents naming children after Javelins
President Joe Biden on Tuesday described the conflict in Ukraine as a historic “inflection point [that] comes along every six or eight generations,” and described the US’ role in the conflict as fighting the first “real battle” in a civilizational struggle versus Russia and China. Biden also promised to send billions more dollars worth of aid to Kiev.
“We’re at an inflection point in history. It comes along about every six or eight generations,” Biden said, during a visit to a Lockheed Martin factory in Alabama, adding that “things are changing so rapidly that we have to be in control.”
It is unclear what the last “inflection point” referenced by Biden was, with six to eight generations describing anywhere between 100 and 200 years ago. However, Biden went on to describe the US’ mission in Ukraine in grander terms than simply shipping arms to an ally.
“There’s an ongoing battle between autocracy and democracy,” he said, referring to China and Russia as enemies of supposed Western “democracies.” The conflict in Ukraine, he added, is “the first real battle” in this clash of civilizations.
Washington’s rhetoric on Ukraine has hardened in recent weeks, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently stating that “we want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” and Biden himself appearing to call for a regime change in Moscow on several occasions.
Russia is already treating the conflict as a de-facto war against NATO, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accusing the US-led military alliance of “essentially going to war with Russia through a proxy and arming that proxy.” Biden also apparently acknowledged on Tuesday that the US was engaged in a proxy war with Russia, telling workers at the Lockheed Martin plant that American weapons shipments were “making it possible for the Ukrainian people to defend themselves without us having to risk getting in a third world war by sending American soldiers.”
On top of this harder rhetoric, Biden has requested an additional $33 billion – which amounts to nearly half of Russia’s whole 2021 defense budget – in military aid for Ukraine, as well as funding for US government agencies involved in the country. Touting the importance of the Javelin anti-tank missiles made in the Alabama plant to Ukraine’s war effort, Biden compared the unprecedented weapons splurge to the US’ arming of its allies in World War II.
Biden, known for his frequent verbal slip-ups, appeared to confuse Russia for Ukraine when he said that prior to the launch of Russia’s military operation in February, “we made sure Russia had javelins and other weapons … so Ukraine was ready for whatever happened.”
Biden also told his audience that Ukrainian parents are naming their newborn children “Javelin or Javelina” in honor of the American-made missiles. This claim was originally made last month by Ukrainian journalist and neo-Nazi Azov regiment member Ilya Ponomarenko.
Biden on sending Javelins to Ukraine: “they’ve been so important that there are stories of Ukrainian parents naming their newborn children ‘Javelin’ or ‘Javelina.'”
As Biden spoke of China’s role in the global order in Alabama, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate that the US is “now facing two global powers, China and Russia,” and that “the potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing.”
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The country’s energy regulator predicted a 35% rise in prices following the suspension of Russian supplies
Bulgarian industry workers are preparing to protest the rising gas prices, the executive director of the Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (BFIEC), Ivaylo Naydenov, said on Monday following the recent suspension of Russian gas supplies.
In an interview with Radio Bulgaria, Naydenov said the federation has called on the government to take measures to reduce prices or at least keep them at current levels.
“Otherwise, we will have no choice but to organize protests, as announced by the employers’ organizations,” Naydenov said.
He revealed that Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has already been informed by the BFIEC of the potential protests.
The Bulgarian government earlier announced that Petkov and two of his deputies would hold a meeting on May 5 with the representatives of employers’ organizations to discuss “prices on natural gas and electricity, as well as the measures required in response.”
This follows remarks by the head of the BFIEC board, Konstantin Stamenov. Speaking on Monday to Nova News, he said members of the federation “definitely cannot accept a new price of gas,” and if there is no compensation, they are going to stage a protest – and the same warning applies to electricity.
“There is a very limited possibility to replace gas with propane butane, but it is logistically impossible to deliver the quantities we need,” Stamenov said.
Moscow stopped exporting natural gas to Bulgaria and Poland on April 27, following their refusal to pay in rubles. Two days later, the head of Bulgaria’s energy regulator, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), Stanislav Todorov, predicted a 35% rise in natural gas prices.
He explained the gloomy forecast by the fact that the country will now be fully dependent on the European markets.
“Given the fact that we have to go to the free market and replace 80% of the deliveries that Gazprom supplied to Bulgaria and which they no longer want to supply to Bulgaria, we have to replace them with quantities from alternative suppliers. What we can expect for the price for May is that the prices in Bulgaria for gas will be equal to those in Europe,” Todorov said.
The largest Bulgarian natural gas distribution company, Bulgargaz, said it had taken preventative measures to protect consumers and ensure there will be no shortage of gas in May.
The company argued that if Bulgaria had accepted Moscow’s demand to pay in rubles, the gas price would probably still “undergo unpredictable changes, given the lack of clarity on the exchange rate and the lack of ability of the Bulgarian side to exercise control over the currency conversion process.”
“The proposed mechanism implies real risks for the Bulgarian side from unilateral and uncontrolled suspension of supplies without providing the appropriate opportunity to seek liability from the Russian supplier,” Bulgargaz stated.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin set a requirement for states which had imposed sanctions on Russia and are still importing its gas, to use the ruble for transactions. Several buyers signaled willingness to accept Moscow’s demands, but many others made it clear they would not.
Harsh sanctions were imposed on Russia by Western nations in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine. The Russian government, which considers the measures unlawful and unjustified, has retaliated by imposing its own counter-sanctions on “unfriendly states.”
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