Ukraine accuses Russia of blocking talks / Article / LSM.lv

Ukraine accuses Russia of blocking talks to reduce military tensions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Kremlin has still not received a response to his call for a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is reported that Russia continues to concentrate troops on the Ukrainian border, new videos have been published.

The British broadcaster SKY News has broadcast footage from the Voronezh region near the border with Ukraine. According to the TV channel, the images filmed last Friday show the deployment of Russian armed forces in the region. The media reported that a small settlement was built near a railway station, where soldiers and armored vehicles arrive. From there, they are transferred to a nearby training ground, where a military camp is located.

40,000 soldiers at the border

Recently, there have been growing concerns about the withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine and the occupied Crimea. Fires from pro-Kremlin militant-controlled areas in Donbass have also intensified in recent weeks. Another Ukrainian soldier was killed on Sunday, and 27 Ukrainian soldiers have already died this year, Kiev reports.

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that Russia has attracted more than 40,000 troops to Ukraine’s eastern border and has deployed the same amount in Crimea. Zelensky met with his Turkish counterpart Regepa Tajip Erdogan over the weekend in Istanbul.

“I briefed the Turkish side on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine – Donbass and Crimea -, in particular on human rights violations on the peninsula and the ongoing militarization there,” Zelensky said.

Turkey supports the unity of Ukraine

Erdogan stressed that Turkey was a staunch supporter of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the rights of the Crimean Tatars (a nation ethnically related to the Turks).

“Turkey is a strong supporter of Ukraine’s indivisibility and sovereignty. We have reaffirmed our decision not to recognize the occupation of Crimea, “said Erdogan.

Last week, Zelensky went to Eastern Ukraine to visit the front line. Meeting with the soldiers, he said that the number of violations of the ceasefire concluded last July was increasing. Both parties accuse each other of violating the fire agreement. Russia denies preparing for an attack, but the United States warns Moscow of the serious consequences if it continues to concentrate on Ukraine’s eastern border.

CONTEXT:

In recent weeks, concerns about the situation in Eastern Ukraine have been significantly increased. At the end of March, Ukraine reported that Russia was concentrating its troops on the Ukrainian border and that Moscow-backed separatist militants were constantly violating last year’s ceasefire agreement.

Nearly 30 Ukrainian soldiers have been shot dead in eastern Ukraine since mid-February. The media reported that the units are also stationed in the Crimea. Commenting on the news of the concentration of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, the Kremlin spokesman said that the Russian army was moving to the territory where it was deemed necessary.

In the spring of 2014, a conflict began in the eastern part of Ukraine. Soon after the Crimean Autonomous Region of Ukraine annexed by Russia. In February 2015 in Minsk with the participation of the leaders of Germany and France, as well as the President of Russia agreement has been reached on 13 points in the peace plan, which provided for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists. Since then, both sides in the conflict have reported violations of the ceasefire from time to time.

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