Germany Alarmed by Reports of Russian Troops Movements Near Ukraine | News from Germany about Germany

Berlin is closely monitoring the situation in the Ukrainian-Russian border region and is monitoring reports of Russian troop movements, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrea Sasse said. Berlin is in close dialogue with partners regarding this situation, she said at a government press conference in Berlin on Monday 8 November.

Sasse refused to disclose the details of these consultations, but noted that they are being conducted with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which plays an important role in the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, as well as with the United States, France, the parties to the conflict – Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Berlin, Paris and Kiev are ready to meet in the Normandy format

According to Sasse, the German government is alarmed by violations of the ceasefire in Donbass and the creation of obstacles to the work of the OSCE observation mission. “The federal government is taking steps to reduce tensions in the region,” she said. Among other things, Berlin insists on increasing the transparency of the movement of troops in the border region, said a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry.

At the same time, the official representative of the German Foreign Ministry announced plans to hold a meeting in the “Normandy” format at the level of foreign ministers. “France, Germany and Ukraine are ready to hold such a meeting, and we hope that Russia is also ready for this,” Sasse said.

Reports on the build-up of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine

On October 30, The Washington Post reported that officials in the United States and European countries are concerned about the transfer of Russian forces to the border with Ukraine. Western countries have begun to notice these movements in recent weeks, in particular, after Russia completed the West-2021 joint exercise with Belarus in mid-September, the American newspaper said.

Later, the American media organization Politico released satellite images of a cluster of military equipment near the city of Yelnya in the Smolensk region, which borders Belarus, but does not adjoin Ukraine. In November, CNN sources reported that the visit to Moscow by CIA chief William Burns, whom US President Joe Biden had sent on a working trip, allegedly to warn the Russian side and find out what it was, was also connected with information about the increase in the activity of the Russian Armed Forces. motivates military activity.

Meanwhile, Kiev did not confirm the information about the build-up of Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine. “The question remains open why the American media disseminate such information, whether it is true. But the president’s office at the moment has no supporting information,” said the press secretary of the Ukrainian president, Serhiy Nikiforov, on November 7.

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Author: Tatiana Bondarenko, Maxim Filimonov