He spoke by phone with Putin but there was no apparent sign of change in direction from the Kremlin. dispatched Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns to visit Moscow in early November to convey its concerns about the buildup. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, “We agreed that certain communication will be conducted with Russia to demotivate it from any aggressive moves.” SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images Moscow warned of invasion consequencesĪfter a meeting with their Ukrainian counterpart in Brussels Monday, the foreign ministers of France and Germany warned in a joint statement that “any new attempt to undermine Ukraine’s territorial integrity would have serious consequences.” is preparing to share with allies more of the information that’s triggered its worries, to build support for a joint response, according to two of the people. The EU assigned its foreign affairs service to craft options earlier this year to respond to any further Russian moves but those efforts stalled, one person added. in the spring but not implemented, according to two of the people. Read More: Erik Prince Planned to Create a Private Army in UkraineĪ similar package of possible countermeasures to the one now under discussion was developed by the U.S. But the Russian forces didn’t remove their equipment, he said, “so they can deploy quickly because the heavy material is already in place.” “After the last military exercises in the border the Russian troops withdrew,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels Monday. But Ukrainian officials say the Kremlin didn’t pull back all of the forces it massed at that time.
The spring crisis on the border eased after Biden called Putin and offered a summit, which took place in June. People close to the Kremlin have said Putin aims to send a clear message to the West that Moscow won’t tolerate any further expansion of NATO military ties with Ukraine, but isn’t seeking a wider war. The Kremlin Friday dismissed talk of a potential invasion as “unfounded,” saying troop movements on its own territory were a domestic matter. “This military build-up also reduces any warning time between a decision in Russia before they’re able to conduct a military aggressive action.” “We see an unusual concentration of troops and we know Russia has been willing to use these types of military capabilities before to conduct aggressive actions against Ukraine,” North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Monday. President Joe Biden and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen discussed the Ukraine buildup when they met in Washington last week. Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the Russian leader twice in as many days to discuss the tensions. Read More: Ukraine’s President on Why Russia Has Sent Troops to the Border and allied naval exercises in the Black Sea as “provocative,” the Kremlin said. But Putin blasted the government in Kyiv in the call for its recent use of a drone against Russian-backed separatists and denounced recent U.S. EU members including Poland have also accused Russia of encouraging a refugee crisis as its ally Belarus funnels migrants toward the bloc.įrench President Emmanuel Macron told Putin he defends Ukraine’s sovereignty in a phone call Monday that also addressed the migrant crisis. Not only are troops massing again (Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week that Moscow was “concentrating nearly 100,000 soldiers” near the border), but record-high gas prices leave Europe vulnerable to Russian largess on supplies.
The latest frictions come against a broader backdrop. He resisted for weeks as Kyiv and western nations called on him to de-escalate, before pulling troops back in late April. Putin has parked large numbers of troops near the Ukraine border previously, including earlier this year when he sent more than 100,000 troops, as well as tanks, warplanes and warships, to Crimea and other areas. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images Russian troops on the Ukraine border
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