Posted: Dec 3, 2021 01:26 GMT
For its part, Moscow denounces the growing militarization of Ukraine with NATO forces and highlights that those who accuse Russia of alleged unusual military activity on its territory are “the same ones who brought their Armed Forces from across the ocean.”
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin suggested Thursday that any response his country gives to Moscow’s actions toward Kiev will be carried out in conjunction with the international community, noting that he hopes not to see “an incursion” from Russia in the neighboring country.
During a meeting in Seoul with his South Korean counterpart, Suh Wook, the senior US official commented on Russia’s alleged intention to invade Ukrainian territory and stated that Moscow has “a substantial number of forces in the border region”, a situation that “worries “to Washington.
Warning the Russian authorities that they must withdraw their troops from the border with Ukraine, the Pentagon chief stressed that the US would use “the best methods to deal with any situation that arises.” “And, again, what we do will be done as part of an international community,” he said.
“However, it would be best not to see an incursion of the Soviet Union in Ukraine,” he stressed, confusing Russia with the former USSR. “So we hope that Putin will be much more transparent and that we will work to solve the problems and concerns and lower the temperature in the regions,” he concluded.
“The transformation of our neighboring countries into a springboard for confrontation with Russia is unacceptable”
Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that aspires to join the European Union and NATO, has become the main focus of tension between Russia and the West, whose relations have soured to their worst level in the three decades since the war ended. Cold
Kiev previously denounced that Moscow has deployed more than 90,000 military personnel near their long common border. Last November, several media outlets in Western countries reported that US intelligence had warned its European allies that the probability of a Russian invasion in Ukraine would increase as winter progresses and that it could happen in a few weeks.
For his part, the Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, pointed out that Russia is “accused of an alleged unusual military activity” in its territory by the same people “who brought its Armed Forces from the other side of the ocean, that is, the US. “On another occasion, Moscow denounced the growing militarization of Ukraine, which already has a dozen places of deployment of NATO troops.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously claimed that the Atlantic Alliance “deliberately destroyed all dialogue mechanisms”, stressing that his country will respond “appropriately” to military actions that develop close to its borders.
In turn, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, pointed out that the Ukrainian government “is becoming more and more insolent” and that it cannot be ruled out that Kiev “embarks on a military adventure.” Lavrov asserted that all these actions represent “a direct threat to the Russian Federation”.
Furthermore, the Russian Foreign Minister declared on Thursday that it is “categorically unacceptable” for Russia’s neighboring countries to become “a springboard for confrontation” with Moscow. “The transformation of our neighboring countries into a springboard for confrontation with Russia and the deployment of NATO forces in the vicinity of strategically important areas for our security is categorically unacceptable,” he said.
Add Comment