Ukraine on Saturday called on Westerners to be “firm” in their negotiations with Russia, accused of preparing an invasion of the country. Washington keeps up the pressure by announcing the sending of soldiers to Europe
Tensions have been at their highest since the end of 2021 around Ukraine, on whose borders Moscow has massed tens of thousands of soldiers. If Russia defends itself from any plan of attack, it demands guarantees for its security, including the rejection of Kiev joining NATO.
This key request was rejected by the United States this week in a written response to Moscow. But the door remains open to negotiations, the Kremlin having said it wanted to take the time to analyze Washington’s response.
Avoid panic
During a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba on Saturday called on Westerners to “be vigilant and firm in contacts with Russia”, saying that they were aiming for “a political and diplomacy” of the crisis. He also called for “avoiding measures likely to fuel anxiety” and “compromising the financial stability” of this former Soviet republic, one of the poorest countries in Europe.
These words echo those of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged Friday not to sow “panic”, as several countries including the United States evacuated the families of their diplomats.
American and Western reinforcements
US President Joe Biden, for his part, kept up the pressure by announcing the forthcoming dispatch of a contingent of soldiers to Eastern Europe, news that will not fail to irritate Moscow, which denounces the strengthening of the Alliance in its borders for twenty years.
“I will send American troops to Eastern Europe and to NATO countries soon,” Joe Biden, whose country has already placed 8,500 soldiers on alert to strengthen NATO, announced on Friday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will propose next week to NATO a deployment of troops to respond to the rise of “Russian hostility” towards Ukraine. “I have instructed our armed forces to prepare to deploy troops to Europe next week, so as to be able to provide land, air and naval support to our NATO allies,” stressed Boris Johnson.
France has meanwhile announced the dispatch of “several hundred” soldiers to Romania, a border country.
Tours in Kyiv
Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock are expected in Ukraine on February 7 and 8.
For his part, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is expected in Kiev on Tuesday. “Poland supports Ukraine to prevent Russian aggression,” Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller tweeted.
Believing itself threatened by the continued enlargement of NATO on its borders and by Western support for Ukraine, Russia wants a return to military deployments on the borders of 1997. Russian requests were formally rejected on Wednesday by the States United and NATO. “The responses of the United States and NATO did not take into account the fundamental concerns of Russia,” noted the Kremlin on Friday, after a conversation between Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron.
“President Putin has expressed no offensive intentions,” noted the French presidency, adding that the two leaders had agreed on the “need for de-escalation.”
The threat of sanctions
The Europeans and the Americans have promised unprecedented sanctions in the event of an attack on Ukraine.
Were mentioned the strategic gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 between Russia and Germany, or even the access of Russians to transactions in dollars, the queen currency in international trade.
The United States also seized the UN Security Council on Thursday, calling for a meeting on Monday because of the “clear threat” posed in their eyes by Russia to “international peace and security”.
For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured that Russia did not want “no war” and preferred the “path of diplomacy.” Moscow had warned that a rejection of its demands would result in retaliation, with no further details. Russian lawmakers have proposed that Moscow recognize the independence of the pro-Russian separatist territories in Ukraine, which have been fighting Kiev forces since 2014, and openly provide them with weapons.
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