Kremlin warns of allout war amid troop buildup
MOSCOW — The Kremlin said Friday it fears the resumption of fullscale fighting in eastern Ukraine and could take steps to protect civilians there, a stark warning that comes amid a Russian troop buildup along the border.
The statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, reflected the Kremlin’s determination to prevent Ukraine from using force to try to reclaim control over separatistcontrolled territory in the country’s east.
Ukrainian forces and Russiabacked separatists have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula. More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict, and efforts to negotiate a political settlement have stalled.
Officials in Ukraine and in the West have raised concerns in recent weeks about increasingly frequent ceasefire violations in the country’s industrial heartland, known as Donbas. They also expressed worries about the Russian troop escalation along the border with Ukraine.
During a call with Putin on Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel “called for the removal of these troop reinforcements in order to achieve a deescalation of the situation.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. is also increasingly worried about the troop buildup, noting that Russia now has more troops on the border with Ukraine than at any time since 2014.