Russia starts winter exercises near the border with Ukraine | News from Germany about Russia | Dw

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have begun traditional winter exercises, which this year will be partially held in the annexed Crimea, as well as in the Russian regions bordering on Ukraine. As reported by the press service of the Southern Military District on Wednesday, December 1, more than 10 thousand servicemen from motorized rifle and tank units will take part in the maneuvers.

At the same time, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said at a briefing that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have significantly increased their presence in Donbass. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine are building up their military force, pulling together heavy equipment, personnel. According to some reports, the number of troops in the conflict zone has already reached 125 thousand people, and this, if anyone does not know, is half of the entire composition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” she said.

Putin complained about threats

Speaking at the ceremony of presenting credentials to the ambassadors of foreign countries in the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the accusations against Moscow about possible aggression against Ukraine irresponsible. According to him, Russia “is taking adequate military-technical actions.” “It is not we who threaten someone, but the threats are approaching our borders,” the Russian president emphasized.

He also indicated that the Russian Federation and its partners will insist on the inadmissibility of NATO’s expansion to the east. “In a dialogue with the United States and its allies, we will insist on the elaboration of specific agreements that would exclude any further NATO moves to the east and the deployment of weapons systems that threaten us in the immediate vicinity of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.

Lavrov and Blinken will discuss the situation around Ukraine

On the sidelines of the meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), which will be held on December 2-3 in Stockholm, a bilateral meeting is expected between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the US representative in Riga, where the meeting of NATO foreign ministers is taking place, said. One of the topics of discussion should be the aggravation of the situation around Ukraine. In addition, as noted by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, the heads of diplomatic departments will be able to discuss the preparation of contacts between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden. At the same time, according to a Kremlin spokesman, so far there has been no progress in organizing contacts between the presidents.

Tensions near Ukraine’s borders

From the end of October, Western media began to report about Russia’s building up of its military presence along the borders of Ukraine. The last time a similar thing happened in the spring of 2021 and also caused serious concern in the world. But if the events in the spring were regarded as a show of force, then the current situation may be preparation for the actual invasion of Donbass in eastern Ukraine, the US intelligence services believe.

Moscow denies all accusations of preparing an attack on Ukraine and, on the contrary, points to increased NATO activity near the Russian borders.

See also:

• The Normandy Four in Minsk: Time.news of Negotiations on Ukraine

  Negotiations behind closed doors

  The summit of the leaders of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France began at the Minsk Palace of Independence on February 11 at about 18.20. Behind closed doors, the meeting participants began to discuss ways leading to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Earlier, representatives of Kiev and separatists had already concluded agreements on the withdrawal of heavy weapons, but hostilities continued in the Donbass.

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  The Normandy Four in Minsk: Time.news of Negotiations on Ukraine

  Contact group meeting

  At the Dipservice Hall complex in Minsk, simultaneously with the Normandy Four summit, a contact group resumed its work, which includes representatives of the OSCE, Ukraine, Russia, as well as the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”. According to Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, the same document was discussed at both meetings in Minsk.

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  The Normandy Four in Minsk: Time.news of Negotiations on Ukraine

  War of nerves

  At first, the Russian side positively assessed the progress of the negotiations, but after midnight, representatives of other delegations reported that Putin was blocking the achievement of agreements. After a joint discussion with the foreign ministers and delegations of the countries participating in the summit, the Normandy Four continued the meeting in a narrow format.

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  The Normandy Four in Minsk: Time.news of Negotiations on Ukraine

  Waiting for results

  Throughout the meeting, the journalists were waiting for reports on the results of the negotiations. Many of them fell asleep from fatigue. The heads of state and government did not manage to sleep – the meeting of the “Normandy Four” was interrupted only for a short time.

• 

  The Normandy Four in Minsk: Time.news of Negotiations on Ukraine

  Disagreements between Russia and Ukraine

  After 13 hours of the negotiation marathon, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko dispelled hopes for an early agreement. “Russia is putting forward unacceptable conditions,” Poroshenko told AFP at 10.35 on 12 February.

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  The Normandy Four in Minsk: Time.news of Negotiations on Ukraine

  The separatists refused to sign the agreement

  Closer to 11.00 in the media there were reports that the leaders of the separatists at the negotiations of the contact group refused to sign the document developed by the participants of the summit in the “Normandy format”. Two and a half hours earlier, the heads of the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, had joined the contact group.

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  The Normandy Four in Minsk: Time.news of Negotiations on Ukraine

  The parties agreed

  At 12.05 pm, Vladimir Putin went to the journalists and said that the parties had managed to agree on the most important issues. In particular, the ceasefire in the east of Ukraine should begin at 00:00 on February 15. Putin also said that representatives of the contact group signed a final document consisting of 13 points.

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  The Normandy Four in Minsk: Time.news of Negotiations on Ukraine

  Merkel: We failed to achieve everything, but there is hope

  At 13:40, Angela Merkel, at a joint press conference with French President François Hollande, announced that Putin had put pressure on the separatists to agree to a ceasefire. “We have not yet managed to achieve everything, but we have a firm hope for the best for Ukraine and, therefore, for the whole of Europe,” the German chancellor said. Meanwhile, fighting continued in eastern Ukraine.

  Author: Irina Shpakovskaya

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