West goading Ukraine to provoke Russia
NATO proceeds to shift assets to Eastern Europe despite warning from Moscow
MOSCOW / WASHINGTON — Western countries are attempting to push Ukraine to carry out direct provocations against Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Jan 26.
The West wants Kiev to launch a military operation in the insurgent Donbass region or completely abandon the 2015 Minsk agreements on the Ukrainian crisis, Lavrov said in an address to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament.
The Western countries are stepping up military maneuvers near the Russian borders, drawing Ukraine into the orbit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and supplying it with lethal weapons, Lavrov noted.
When asked about the possibility of more Western sanctions, he said that Russia is “ready for any development of events”.
NATO members are increasing military activities in Eastern Europe amid tensions over Ukraine, despite Russia’s warning that a strengthened Western presence near its borders poses a national security threat.
In the past few days, Denmark, Spain, France, and the Netherlands have begun sending ships, planes or troops to NATO’s deployments in the region. Already present on the ground are the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, NATO said in a statement on Jan 24.
NATO has not made a decision to activate the Response Force, which consists of about 40,000 troops from multiple nations.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said that nearly 8,500 US troops had been put on higher alert for a possible deployment due to escalating tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border, but there has been no decision on formal deployments.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the US-based troops are being put on alert for possible deployment — not to Ukraine but to NATO territory in Eastern Europe.
“What this is about is reassurance to our NATO allies,” Kirby told a news conference, adding that no troops are intended for deployment to Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance but has been assured by Washington of continued US political support and arms supplies.
If NATO does decide to activate the Response Force, the United States will
contribute a range of military units, Kirby said.
Responding to NATO’s move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Jan 24 that the Russian military cannot ignore the Western alliance’s increased military activities as tensions remain high.
In addition to the NATO maneuvers, Ukrainian authorities are massing forces on the line of contact with the two self-proclaimed republics in Donbass, he noted.
The threat of provocations by Kiev in the Donbass region in eastern
Ukraine is now higher than ever, Peskov said.
The current escalation of tensions was caused by the US and its NATO allies, which have launched a propaganda campaign full of lies against Russia, he added.
NATO, the US and Ukraine have accused Russia of having assembled heavily armed troops near the eastern border of Ukraine with a possible intention of “invasion”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s press service said that Zelensky and US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken met in Kiev on Jan 26.
After talks with Zelensky, Blinken said on Twitter that he had informed the Ukrainian president on US engagements with Russia the week prior and stressed that “there will be nothing about Ukraine, without Ukraine”.
Earlier, Ukrainian officials have tried to ease the tension in a number of tweets. Zelensky himself said on Jan 25 that the circumstances in the region were “under control” and there is “no reason to panic”.
Responding to US President Joe Biden’s comment on the “minor incursion” by Russia at an earlier press conference, Zelensky reminded that “there are no minor incursions and small nations”.
Tensions helped fuel instability in global markets, while Russia’s main stock index plunged and the central bank suspended foreign currency purchasing after the ruble slumped. In another development, the US and Britain are withdrawing some staff members and dependents from their embassies in Ukraine, stoking fears that a conflict is looming.
But the European Union and the Ukrainian government said any withdrawal of foreign embassy personnel was premature.
Ukrainian political analyst Igor Chalenko said the Western powers have no grounds to withdraw some of their staff from their embassies in Kiev as the security situation at the Ukrainian border is relatively stable.
According to the expert, the US, Canada and Britain are possibly withdrawing diplomats’ families from Kiev in a move to facilitate the supply of weapons to Ukraine.