New twist in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. As the Russians moved troops to the Ukrainian border, Thursday 1er April, the Ukrainian president warned of the risk of ” Provocation “ Russians in the separatist east of the country.
“The show of force in the form of military exercises and possible provocations along the border is the traditional occupation of Russia”, denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a statement. By placing troops on the border, Moscow “Tries to create a threatening atmosphere and to put pressure” on Ukraine, he continued, while calling for negotiating a new truce in this area.
Moscow reacted during the day, warning Kiev and the West not to ” to worry “ movements of its troops. “Russia moves its armed forces on its territory as it sees fit”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that “This does not represent a threat to anyone and should not worry anyone”.
Concerns of Ukrainian intelligence services
After a long truce during the second half of 2020, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has seen an increase in clashes since January, which have resulted in the deaths of 19 Ukrainian soldiers, with both sides being blamed for the conflict. ‘climbing. Ukrainians and Americans have also reported recent movements of Russian troops in Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, and on the Russian-Ukrainian border, near territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Ukrainian military intelligence thus accused Moscow of preparing “The entrance” of its “Regular armed forces” in separatist territories “On the grounds of protecting” the inhabitants, to whom Russia has distributed hundreds of thousands of its passports. Russian troops could “Attempt to penetrate further into Ukrainian territory”, added the intelligence service in a statement.
Witnessing the growing concern of the United States, the Chief of Staff of the American Armies, General Mark Milley, spoke on Wednesday with the Russian Chief of Staff Valéri Guérassimov, and with the Commander-in-Chief of Ukrainian armed forces, Ruslan Khomtchak. The latter had denounced earlier “A threat to military security” Ukrainian, claiming that the separatists numbered 28,000 fighters and “More than 2,000 instructors and military advisers” Russian.
United States and European Union convictions
The United States on Thursday warned Russia against any“Intimidation” targeting Ukraine. “We are absolutely concerned about the recent escalation of aggressive and provocative acts by Russia in eastern Ukraine”US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price told reporters. “We oppose any aggressive act aimed at intimidating or threatening our partner, Ukraine”, he added.
For its part, the European Union considered that it was “A new violation of international humanitarian law”, by the spokesperson for the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. As well, “The EU does not and will not recognize the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol”, annexed in 2014 to the detriment of Ukraine, she added.
“The European Union fully supports the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its borders and calls on Russia to cease all violations of international law in the Crimean peninsula”, she concluded.
13,000 deaths since 2014
Moscow has always denied having had men or weapons on the ground. Mr Peskov reaffirmed on Thursday that “The Russian military” had “Never taken part” to this war. The Pentagon meanwhile said this week that US forces in Europe had been placed in a phase of enhanced surveillance against a “Potential imminent crisis” and that the United States had raised the tensions in Ukraine with its NATO partners.
The war in Ukraine, which claimed more than 13,000 lives, began in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea, in the wake of a pro-Western movement in Kiev that Moscow wanted to avoid at all costs.