“Unusual” troop movements, according to the United States, near the Russian-Ukrainian border increase tension in the region
The United States on Wednesday asked Russia for “clarity” on “unusual” troop movements near the Russian-Ukrainian border, warning Moscow against the temptation to make the “grave mistake” of replicating the scenario. 2014 which had started a war. “We call on Russia to be clear about its intentions,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
He described “unusual military activity in Russia, near the Ukrainian border”, due to the “size” and “breadth” of the movements. “We have no clarity on Moscow’s intentions but we know its strategy,” said the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken in Washington, alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kouleba.
Kiev’s “Remarkable Retainer”
“Our concern is that Russia is making the grave mistake of attempting to replicate what it did in 2014, when it amassed its forces along the border and entered sovereign Ukrainian territory, while wrongly claiming to have been provoked, ”he added. “The strategy observed in the past is to invoke provocations to justify the execution of what they had planned from the start,” he continued.
However, “if there are provocations today, they come from Russia, with these movements of forces that we see along the Ukrainian border”. Antony Blinken therefore said to follow “this very closely” in consultation with the allies of the Americans, while welcoming “the remarkable restraint” of Kiev. He reiterated to his counterpart the “unwavering” support of the United States for “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity” of Ukraine.
The Pentagon has called on Moscow to “respect the Minsk Agreements”, which notably provide for the demilitarization of the Russian-Ukrainian border. The US media reported late October movements of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border and the Pentagon, which had previously confirmed to “closely monitor” the border.
Strong allies
The Ukrainian minister welcomed this American support because “the best way to have a deterrence in the face of Russia’s aggressiveness” is according to him “to clearly demonstrate to the Kremlin that Ukraine is strong, but also that it has strong allies who will not leave it alone in the face of Moscow’s ever-increasing aggressiveness ”. Kiev had however denied at the beginning of November any unusual Russian movement.
The Ukrainian army had explained that the reported movements were “displacements of troops after exercises”, and had considered that the dissemination of allegations of a strengthening of the Russian army could be a “psychological” operation against Ukraine. The Donbass region in eastern Ukraine has been in the throes of a war since 2014 that has left more than 13,000 dead between Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists, of which the Kremlin is considered the godfather. military despite his denials.
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