Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the US of wanting to provoke a conflict in Ukraine with its accusations of an imminent Russian invasion.
In a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday, Lavrov stressed that the “propaganda campaign launched by the United States and its allies about a ‘Russian aggression’ aims to provoke and encourage the authorities. Kiev” to a possible conflict in Donbass, the region in the east of the country where Ukrainian forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists supported by Moscow for eight years.
The US embassy in Ukraine announced that it had decided to withdraw its non-essential personnel from its headquarters in Kiev, and Moscow also said it had reduced its diplomatic corps in the neighboring country. Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway, Australia, Japan and Israel have recommended that their fellow citizens leave Ukraine.
On Friday, Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke again, without citing specific evidence, that Russia has gathered enough forces to launch a military offensive against Ukraine “at any moment.” According to him, the attack could take place even before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which end on the 20th.
Blinken told Lavrov, for his part, that diplomatic channels remained “open” to avoid a conflict in Ukraine, but that it was necessary for Moscow to initiate a “de-escalation”, the State Department said.
Moscow denies intentions of invading the neighboring country, although it has deployed more than 100,000 troops and military equipment at different points close to the border. On the other hand, the Kremlin says it can take “military actions”, without specifying which ones, if the West does not accept security guarantees, including the promise that Ukraine will never join NATO, a Western military alliance led by the United States. —proposal that the US considers unacceptable.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said warnings of a Russian attack on his country “cause panic and are not useful” and asked for concrete evidence of an invasion.
“All this information is causing panic and is not helping us,” the Ukrainian leader told reporters, adding that if anyone has additional data about an intrusion, they should show it.
A Russian invasion of Ukraine “would result in a determined, massive and united transatlantic response,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to speak by phone with Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron later this Saturday.
Western countries want some signal from Russia that it will favor de-escalation, but Moscow wants NATO to abandon any possible expansion into eastern Europe. Neither side is willing to give in, accusing each other of escalating tensions.
