Russia is raising the profile of the threat on the border with Ukraine, at the same time that summits in Paris are trying to avoid war. The Russian foreign minister warns that Russia must meet its demands.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday morning that Russia would take “necessary retaliatory measures” if the United States did not provide a response based on Russia’s demands for security guarantees. State reports, Russian news agency TASS.
Russia has moved what appears to be an invading force of more than 100,000 soldiers near its border with Ukraine. In addition, they sent troops to Belarus to conduct a joint exercise with Belarusian forces, opening up a potential new wing for Ukraine to defend in the event of an invasion.
The West, led by the United States, has warned Russia of severe sanctions if Ukraine is invaded.
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Lavrov is speaking in the Russian parliament, the Duma, and is also said to have strongly urged the United States, France and Germany to force Ukraine to abide by the Minsk-2 agreement.
Russia conducted military exercises on Wednesday and deployed several forces and combat aircraft in Belarus, where it has a presence Creating what could become a new “wing” against Ukraine.
The Kremlin also warned that sanctions against President Vladimir Putin would work against their purpose.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, described such sanctions as directly devastating in connection with US President Joe Biden’s threat to impose direct sanctions on the Russian president.
Peskov also accuses US politicians of not being aware of the case, as there are already a number of obstacles to Russian officials having assets abroad.
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Meanwhile, representatives of the governments of Russia and Ukraine will meet in Paris, the first such meeting since tensions in the region began escalating in November.
The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andrei Germak, praised the meetings and wrote on Twitter that there was a “strong signal” about the will for a peaceful solution.
The meeting begins in Paris at 12 noon and also includes representatives from France and Germany. Sources in the French president’s office say the talks will mainly be about humanitarian action, as well as the possibility of formal negotiations over the breakaway region of Donbass in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine: Russia has not amassed enough troops
On Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russia had not mobilized enough force for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. CNN.
The number of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and in the occupied territories is high. Kuleba says they are a threat – a direct threat to Ukraine.
But he adds:
– However, at the moment this figure is not enough for a large-scale invasion along the entire Ukrainian border. They also lack some critical military indicators and systems to carry out such a large-scale attack. Every day we can say 100 times that an invasion is imminent, but this does not change the situation on Earth.
Did you not see the background? Read these two cases:
Russia has new demands on NATO: This is how Putin wants to change Europe
Information for VG: This is how NATO will respond to Russia
Since the pro-Russian separatists took control of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions along the Russian border in 2014, there has been an armed conflict in the region. But it is becoming increasingly closed. According to United Nations estimates, the conflict has claimed more than 14,000 lives.
In November, the United States, the European Union and NATO sounded the alarm about a massive build-up of Russian soldiers along the country’s entire border with Ukraine. The fear is that Russia is planning a major attack and invasion of Ukraine.
Germany and France have served as peace mediators in the conflict since 2014, but attempts to conclude peace between the parties in eastern Ukraine have stalled.
Trilateral talks were held in early January, during which German and French representatives traveled to Moscow and Kiev, but the Russians and Ukrainians did not sit at the same negotiating table. On Wednesday, they will.
If you need an explanation – here’s the background to the conflict:
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