Russia Says War Goals Have Expanded After NATO Flooded Ukraine with Weapons

Jose Nino | Jul 23, 2022



5 months into Russia’s special military operation, Russia forces have largely brought the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine under their control.
Now, there’s speculation that Russia may have broader territorial ambitions in Ukraine. Tyler Durden of ZeroHedge cited “provocative” comments Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made on July 20, 2022.

“Russia’s foreign minister said Moscow had expanded its war aims for its invasion of Ukraine, the strongest sign yet that it seeks to annex parts of the country currently under its control,” a report by the Financial Times noted.
FT added:

Sergei Lavrov said Russia’s goals were more ambitious than Moscow had declared at the start of the war in February, when it claimed its goal was to “liberate” the eastern Donbas border region. Moscow’s war aims now extend to the provinces of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, which are mostly occupied by Russian forces, Lavrov said. The Donbas region is largely under the control of two Moscow-backed separatist groups in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.
In addition, Lavrov stated that a “number of other territories” are also included in Russia’s new war aims. However, Lavrov did not provide any specifics on what territories Russia could potentially capture. Rumors are pointing to Russia making an attempt to capture the port city of Odessa so as to leave a landlocked, rump Ukraine.
While the initial goal of the Russian special military operation was focused on liberating the breakaway republics in the Donbas, the Collective West’s heavy sanction response to Russia’s military incursion has made various factions of its security elites believe that a more expansionist approach in Ukraine is needed.

On top of that, the constant flows of arms that the West has facilitated into Ukraine has made Russian strategists consider more escalatory actions such as expanding the war towards the Dnieper river.
Lavrov referenced this in his July 20 comments, “If the west continues to pump Ukraine full of weaponry out of impotent rage or a desire to exacerbate the situation [ . . .] then that means our geographical tasks will move even further from the current line.”
On July 19, the White House issued a statement condemning Russia’s “annexation playbook” as reports come out that Russia is propping up pro-Russian officials and administrations in cities and towns that are now under their control. In addition, there is speculation that several of these areas could have referenda in the mold of Crimea in 2014. In these cases, citizens would decide if these territories will join the Russian Federation.
On July 20, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that it’s sending Ukraine 4 additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) as part of its next round of military aid.

The Collective West is fully committed to fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian. When one zooms out and looks at things soberly, Ukraine’s decision to side strongly with the West after the Euromaidan uprising of 2014 has only resulted in it losing territory, starting with Crimea and the Donbas republics.
If it continues obliging the Collective West by prolonging its conflict with Russia, Ukraine will only lose more territory in a conflict that it can’t win.

Sober minds would try to bring this conflict to an end. Further continuation of this proxy war will lead to the veritable destruction of the Ukrainian state and the mass impoverishment of Western working classes.

Russia Says War Goals Have Expanded After NATO Flooded Ukraine with Weapons - Big League Politics