EU says Russian troops build-up is ‘of concern’

THE European Union has estimated that 150,000 Russian troops have already amassed for the biggest military build-up ever near Ukraine’s borders and that it will only take “a spark” to set off a confrontation.

At the same time, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell declared that the condition of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was “critical” and added that the 27-nation group would hold the Kremlin accountable for his health and safety.

Despite the worrying developments, Mr Borrell said after a virtual meeting of the EU foreign ministers that “for the time being, there is no move in the field of more sanctions” to be slapped on Russia. He also said there was not a request for a synchronised EU diplomatic move of expulsions in the stand-off between EU member state the Czech Republic

and Russia, following Prague’s accusation that Moscow was involved in a 2014 ammunition depot explosion.

More dangerous at this time, Mr Borrell said, was the massing of Russian troops, including military field hospitals, and “all kinds of warfare”.

He added: “It is the highest military deployment of the Russian army on the Ukrainian borders ever. It’s clear that it’s a matter of concern when you deploy a lot of troops. A spark can jump here or there.”

Mr Borrell declined to say where he obtained the 150,000 Russian troops figure from, but it is bigger than the 110,000 estimate provided by Ukrainian defence minister Andriy Taran last week.

More than 14,000 people have died in seven years of fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that erupted after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.

The EU has steadfastly opposed the annexation, but has been unable to do anything about it. Efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled and violations of a shaky truce have become increasingly frequent in recent weeks across Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, the Donbas.

Diplomats had expected there was little to no chance of immediate new sanctions on Moscow, but they will now seek to apply more pressure nevertheless through diplomacy. At the weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron said that, while dialogue with Russia is essential, “clear red lines” carrying possible sanctions must also be drawn with Moscow over Ukraine.

Mr Navalny, who is in the third week of a hunger strike, will be admitted to a hospital in another prison, the Russian state penitentiary service (FSIN) has said. The move comes after the politician’s doctor said he could be near death.

The FSIN said yesterday that Mr Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest opponent, would be transferred to a hospital for convicts located in a penal colony in Vladimir, a city 110 miles east of Moscow.

According to the FSIN, Mr Navalny’s condition is deemed “satisfactory”, but the opposition leader’s doctor, Yaroslav Ashikhmin, said on Saturday that test results he received from the family show him with sharply elevated levels of potassium, which can bring on cardiac arrest, and heightened creatinine levels that indicate impaired kidneys.

“Our patient could die at any moment,” he wrote on Facebook.