Monday April 12, 2021
USA threatens Russia
Kiev reports killed soldiers in Donbass
The situation in eastern Ukraine is getting worse. Once again the government in Kiev reports a dead man in the conflict region. Due to the deployment of Russian troops on the border, US Secretary of State Blinken warns the Kremlin that the conflict will intensify.
According to military reports from Kiev, another soldier was shot dead by pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine. Another military member was injured in the “enemy attack”, said the armed forces in Kiev on Sunday. According to the government, 26 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the year – in the entire past year there were 50.
The tensions in the Donbass conflict region in eastern Ukraine had recently intensified massively, regardless of an existing ceasefire. The positions of the Ukrainian government troops have been fired at nine times since Saturday. The Donetsk region, which is controlled by separatists loyal to Moscow, also accused the Ukrainian military of attacks.
Russia and Ukraine, which have concentrated troops in the region, blamed each other for the new escalation in the seven-year conflict. Most recently, the Kremlin openly threatened to intervene in the conflict in the event of a military offensive on the Ukrainian side. Moscow’s military doctrine allows such a move to protect Russian citizens abroad. Russia has issued more than 400,000 passports to citizens in the separatist-controlled regions of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
AKK demands a statement from Moscow
The US government announced this week that the number of Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian border was higher than it has been since the annexation of Crimea and the start of fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2014. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Russia in an interview on Sunday of “consequences” if it behaved “aggressively” towards Ukraine.
Blinken told US broadcaster NBC that he was “really concerned about Russia’s actions on the border with Ukraine.” The US allies and partners in Europe all shared this concern. Washington is therefore “in very close contact, in close coordination” with these countries. US President Joe Biden has made his position very clear, said his foreign minister. “If Russia acts ruthlessly or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences.”
Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer demanded a declaration of Russian intentions from Moscow. “If Russia has nothing to hide, it could easily explain which troops are being moved where and to what destination,” the minister wrote on Twitter on Saturday. Russia recently stated that it was not accountable to anyone for troop movements on its territory.
Germany also criticized the fact that Russia did not take part in a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Saturday. In Vienna, Ukraine wanted to discuss the escalation of the situation. As an OSCE member, Russia had obligations and had to express itself on the concerns of other states, it said. “Russia must de-escalate and clarify the nature of its troop movements near the Ukrainian border,” said the German OSCE representation.
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