Daily Times

Harsh winter has drastically surrounded the two warring countries, Russia and Ukraine. Both countries are briskly moving towards a huge humanitarian catastrophe. Strangely, the UN organizations are only shouting about the Ukrainian population. Seems the Russians are not humans or the children of a lesser god. The US and the Western media are narrating the sorry tales of military and civil losses in Ukraine alone. Perhaps, Russians are living in heaven after the united military support of the US and NATO to warring Ukraine against Russia. The US and Western media outlets have once again proved that they are the best tool in propaganda wars.

The winter will not be “life-threatening” for millions of Ukrainians, as the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. It will be the same for people in Russia and on its orders. Most importantly, the Russia-Ukraine war impact will be felt more in the West too. As many as 13 countries will be facing a severe energy crisis after the increasing food shortfall and highest inflation. Certainly, this winter will be all about the survival of millions of human lives across borders, and continents. It will make no difference to the lives of warmongers, and to those who had fueled up the Russia-Ukraine war instead of supporting the negotiations between the parties on the matters of conflict.

Winter has turned into a big threat to several European countries too that are short of gas for heating. Russia has cut off gas supplies to several countries after they denied their lawful payments. German gas trader VNG is nearing a deal under which it will receive several billion euros in state aid to shoulder the huge costs of replacing Russian gas with higher-priced alternatives. AlJazeera has reported quoting two people familiar with the matter. The same is the case in some other countries too. They are trying to find alternate sources of energy instead of paying off the lawful gas dues to Russia and getting the gas supplies restored. Sanctions on Russia are turning into big threats to the West in the ever-increasing harsh winter.

Kyiv is trying to worsen Russian-North Korean relations to weaken Moscow’s international influence

The war has affected Moldova the most. Life in Moldova is also under sheer threat this winter. About 50 countries and institutions met in Paris this Monday to pledge millions of euros in aid for Moldova. Romania is currently providing Moldova with a huge portion of electricity, between 80-90 per cent of their needs since October this year.

Roughly, in nine months, artillery amounting to $50 billion has been used to perish hundreds of human lives and to cause the destruction of billions of dollars. The war’s impact on the physical and mental health of millions has yet to be counted in. Despite all the losses, no outcome is seen yet as desired. Nevertheless, no doubt, negotiations will be the end of the war.

On this Monday, NATO asked the allies to provide more military support to Ukraine as “the possible negotiations would take into account Ukraine’s strength on the battlefield”. Berlin has offered to deploy anti-aircraft missile systems in Poland after a deadly blast close to its border with Ukraine, the German defence minister said.

On the other hand, the Kremlin has said that “Russia is not considering a second round of [military] mobilizations”. Both statements hint that the Russia-Ukraine war has entered the final round. Now, it’s about mounting pressure on Russia and threatening its two alleged supporters, North Korea and Iran. Though both countries have denied supplying artillery to Russia. But, they are still facing threats from Ukraine and its allies, NATO and the US.

It seems, the ground levelling against North Korea in particular, after Mykhaylo Podolyak, advisor to the Head of the Ukrainian presidential office, has threatened North Korea with war. Talking to the Ukrainian media, he commented on the reports about the increasing military and technical cooperation between Russia and North Korea on 7 September 2022. The politician said that the Ukrainian army would concentrate on the “demilitarization” of North Korea after the end of the confrontation with Russia.

Through its evident actions, Kyiv is trying to worsen Russian-North Korean relations to weaken Moscow’s international influence. However, Ukraine does not take into account that the countries against which it pursues an aggressive foreign policy are nuclear powers.

Responding to Mykhaylo Podolyak’s threat and other statements of the US and the leaders of the NATO countries, North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) officially adopted a decree on 7 September that “the state would respond with a nuclear strike if it attacked with similar weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, as well as an imminent threat of such an attack.” Strange. Very strange. No idea, what extent of destruction this insane thinking and threats on threats would take us to.

The writer is a freelance journalist and broadcaster, and Director Devcom-Pakistan. He can be reached at devcom.pakistan@gmail.com and tweets @EmmayeSyed