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22 | <strong>M2CC</strong> - News www.m2cc.us FEBRUARY <strong>2022</strong> EDITION<br />
As US Predicts<br />
Russia Could<br />
Seize Kyiv in<br />
Days, diplomatic<br />
Efforts set to<br />
Intensify this week<br />
Efforts to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine<br />
will intensify this week, as world leaders make a<br />
heightened push for a diplomatic solution, even<br />
as new U.S. military and intelligence assessments<br />
<strong>—</strong> which estimated Russia could seize Kyiv in<br />
days and leave up to 50,000 civilians killed<br />
or wounded <strong>—</strong> suggest that the window for<br />
negotiations is closing.<br />
President Joe Biden is set to meet Monday with<br />
new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has<br />
been accused of not doing enough to respond<br />
to Russian aggression along with his European<br />
allies. French President Emmanuel Macron, who<br />
recently reemphasized France's commitment<br />
to its NATO allies, will meet Russian President<br />
Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, and then<br />
travel to Kyiv on Tuesday to meet with Ukrainian<br />
President Volodymyr Zelensky.<br />
"The priority for me on the Ukrainian question is<br />
dialogue with Russia and de-escalation," Macron<br />
told reporters last week. "I'm very worried by the<br />
situation on the ground."<br />
The White House on Sunday said Biden and<br />
Macron had spoken by phone to discuss "ongoing<br />
diplomatic and deterrence efforts in response<br />
to Russia's continued military build-up on<br />
Ukraine's borders." Over the weekend, senior<br />
Russian officials dismissed new U.S. intelligence<br />
reports that Russia could take over Kyiv in<br />
days as alarmist and as unlikely as an attack by<br />
Washington on London.<br />
"Madness and scaremongering continues. . . .<br />
What if we would say that US could seize London<br />
in a week and cause 300K civilian deaths?"<br />
Russia's deputy ambassador to the United<br />
Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, tweeted Sunday.<br />
And parliamentary deputy Artem Turov, a member<br />
of Putin's United Russia party, accused the United<br />
States of disseminating fake information and of<br />
"doing everything possible to fan a new conflict."