On Monday (November 29), Ukraine called for swift action to “stop” the invasion of its Soviet-era dominator Moscow, stating that Russia may launch a military operation “in the blink of an eye.”
Western countries this month issued warnings about reports of Russia’s military activities near Ukraine, and the United States said it was “really concerned” about the build-up of new troops at the border.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said at a briefing for foreign media that “it’s better to act now, not later” to “deter Russia”.
“What we are seeing is very serious. Russia has deployed a large military force in the area close to the Ukrainian national border.”
He said that Moscow had assembled 115,000 soldiers around Ukraine, the Crimea Peninsula (which Russia annexed in 2014), and two eastern regions occupied by pro-Russian separatists.
He added that tanks, artillery, electronic warfare systems, as well as the air force and navy were also deployed.
“If Russia decides to take military action, things will happen in the blink of an eye,” the foreign minister told reporters.
But he added that, compared with the fact that Ukraine’s army has become “extremely powerful” in 2014 when separated combatants occupied the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in a brewing conflict that claimed more than 13,000 lives. “Fight back”.
Moscow denies that Kiev and its Western allies accuse Russia of sending troops and weapons to support separatists.
After the escalation of violence at the beginning of the year, Russia gathered about 100,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border in the spring, raising concerns about a major escalation of the situation.
Russia later announced its withdrawal, but Ukraine and its ally, the United States, said at the time that the withdrawal was limited.
In recent weeks, Ukraine, the United States, NATO, and the European Union have issued warnings about new Russian troop movements and warned of a possible invasion.
Moscow rejected these claims, accusing Kiev of “provocation” and accusing Washington of exacerbating tensions in the region.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby called the movement of the Russian army a “continuous concern” and promised to support the Ukrainian army, but downplayed any expectations of direct US military intervention.
Kirby said: “We continue to see operations, and we continue to see their forces increase near the Ukrainian border.”
“We are paying close attention to it,” he told reporters, adding: “We don’t want any military intervention by the United States in this conflict.”
In an exclusive interview with EURACTIV, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also appeared to rule out a military response to the invasion.
