According to its own statements, Russia does not rule out a military reaction in the conflict over Ukraine. On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin did not rule out a “military-technical” reaction to what he considered to be the “unfriendly” behavior of the West. If the West does not give up its “clearly aggressive stance”, “we will take the appropriate military-technical retaliation,” said Putin at a meeting with representatives of the Russian army and the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.
At the meeting with Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu criticized the growing militarization of Ukraine and an increase in maneuvers on Russia’s borders. Shoigu said Moscow estimates that there are more than 120 employees from American private US military companies working with Ukrainian special forces in the region. According to Russian sources, these prepared “a provocation with chemical weapons” in the restless and tense eastern Ukraine. Shoigu said at the meeting with Putin that containers with “unidentified chemical components” were delivered to the cities of Avdeevka and Krasny Liman in Donbass to stage provocations. Shoigu did not provide any further details or evidence of the allegedly planned chemical attacks. The supreme Russian military, General Valeri Gerasimov, also attended the meeting.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made a statement at a press conference and warned the US and the West as a whole against crossing “red lines”. NATO must not come any closer to Russia’s borders. For its part, NATO accuses Russia of preparing an invasion of Ukraine. Moscow denies this. In an interview with US President Joe Biden, Putin recently demanded a written declaration on security guarantees and a waiver of eastward expansion. The USA and Russia have agreed to first discuss the bilateral differences, particularly around Ukraine, through diplomatic channels.
Karen Donfried, US Deputy Secretary of State, said in Washington on Tuesday that the US government would talk to Russia about all open issues – bilaterally. This does not mean that European security will be decided outside of Europe. NATO and the EU will be involved in the talks in good time. The framework could be the OSCE, according to Donfried according to the Financial Times. (Sort code, with AFP and dpa)