Russia warned the West on Friday against dispatching troops to Ukraine to support its partner after Kiev condemned Moscow of building up military troops on its border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday condemned Russia for clustering troops on the border and the United States vowed to stand by Ukraine in the incident of Russian “aggression”.
Weeks of revived frontline conflicts have put forward fears of an escalation of the simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine, where government troops are combatting pro-Russian separatists.
Talking to the reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov asserted Russia would be compelled to admit if the US sent troops.
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“There is no doubt such a scenario would lead to a further increase in tensions close to Russia’s borders. Of course, this would call for additional measures from the Russian side to ensure its security,” Peskov informed reporters.
And further added, “Russia is not threatening anyone, it has never threatened anyone”.
Initially this week, the US warned Russia against “intimidating” Ukraine, with both Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling their Ukrainian companions to stress support.
And the Pentagon said US forces in Europe had put forward their alert status pursuing the “recent escalations of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine”.
Rise in fighting
Ukraine has been combatting pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk provinces since 2014, pursuing Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula after an upheaval that overthrew Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych.
Moscow and Kiev accused each other of an increase in violence along the frontline that has weakened a truce brokered last July.
Zelensky told 20 Ukrainian servicemen had been assassinated since the start of the year.
Ukraine’s military intelligence condemned Russia for instructing to “expand its military presence” in the separatist-controlled regions.
Ruslan Khomchak, chief of the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, announced that more than 2,000 Russian military instructors and advisers, were presently stationed in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has frequently refuted dispatching troops and arms to fund the separatists and the Kremlin said that Russia is at freedom to move troops on its territory.
“Russia is not a participant of the conflict,” told Peskov, blaming Ukraine’s armed forces of “multiple” provocations in the region.
A senior Russian official rejected reports of Russia scheduling an attack on Ukraine as “fake”.
“Russia is not interested in any conflict with Ukraine, especially a military one,” deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko notified.
Together with France, Germany and Ukraine, Russia is part of the Normandy format of countries that have pursued to settle the conflict and in 2015 agreed on the Minsk accords to lessen the warfare.
Zelensky was appointed in 2019 on guarantees of ending the war, but analysts say a risky truce has been his only substantial achievement.
According to the United Nations, the fighting has alleged more than 13,000 lives since 2014
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