According to him, the situation is not fundamentally different from 2014. “The greatest danger for Ukraine is destabilization from within.” NATO is the only guarantee of security in Ukraine, according to the president.
Decrease voltage
The president has urged Russia to take swift steps to ease tensions or “de-escalate” the crisis.
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Russia has been deploying many troops close to the Ukrainian border since late last year. The NATO countries therefore fear a Russian invasion. Recently, several Western leaders have expressed support for Ukraine and warned the Kremlin of the consequences of a raid.
Tensions between Russia and the United States and other Western countries have been running high due to the conflict in Ukraine. A civil war has been raging in the east of the country since 2014.
Diplomatic Frictions
The frictions between the West and Russia lead, among other things, to more and more bullying at the diplomatic level. Russia has complained that the United States has demanded that 55 diplomats be withdrawn from the Russian embassy in Washington this year. It would then have to continue with 184 employees, a fraction of what it was five years ago.
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It is common for the reaction to such evictions to lead to similar evictions in the affected country. Then more Americans have to leave the embassy in Moscow. Russia has also informed the European Union that it will ban a number of Europeans who are active in the military industry.
Demands too high
Tensions in and around Ukraine therefore remain unprecedentedly high. Will this lead to a war? The West does not want war. According to Russia, this can also be prevented if it receives guarantees from NATO. But Putin makes sky-high demands: Ukraine must never become a NATO member, and NATO must withdraw troops from Eastern European member states.
Those demands are so high that the alliance will never agree to them. For example, NATO has an open door policy: new countries are allowed to join. A country like Russia cannot stop that. NATO will also not withdraw troops from member states, especially if they feel threatened.
‘Unclear what Russia wants’
We don’t know yet what the consequences will be. Only what Russia really wants is also unclear, says Russia correspondent Eva Hartog. According to Hartog, even Putin’s own diplomats do not know what is going to happen. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 Russian soldiers are standing on the border with Ukraine. According to the official reading because of an exercise.
In addition, several countries are now assisting Ukraine with weapons and other military equipment. The US is allocating $200 million for this. Britain sent anti-tank weapons and Turkey supplied drones. The Netherlands will not send soldiers, but is open to ‘defensive military support’, Foreign Affairs Minister Hoekstra said.
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Fearing a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom decided last week to recall some of the embassy staff and their families. Dutch embassy staff in Kiev can also leave Ukraine if they want to, Minister Hoekstra said on Monday.
Due to the threat of war in the country, KLM is also taking precautions. The airline still flies to the country, but no longer allows its staff to spend the night there.
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