Friday, December 03, 2021
Kiev warns of “increase”
Putin and Biden want to talk about Ukraine
The meeting of foreign ministers apparently laid the groundwork: US President Biden and Russian President Putin want to meet at least next week for the Ukraine summit. The situation along the border remains tense. Kiev fears an invasion “at the end of January”.
US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are likely to meet next week for a video summit amid tensions along the Russian-Ukrainian border. Biden assured the White House that he was taking a number of measures to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kiev warned of a major attack by Russia in late January.
The date of the video call “has already been determined,” said Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser. “We’re going to come to an agreement at that point that everyone will agree to.” According to Ushakov, the video summit will be held after Putin’s visit to India. The Kremlin chief is on a visit to New Delhi on Monday.
The announcement came after a meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of the OSCE summit in Stockholm between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US colleague Antony Blinken. “The meeting was a good opportunity for both sides to explain their position to each other in a clear and understandable way,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Tensions rising in Ukraine
Given the heavy deployment of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine, there are fears that Russia may attack the neighboring country. Biden said at the White House that he was planning a series of “initiatives” to prevent that from happening. The measures would “make it very difficult for Putin to go ahead and do what people fear he might do”.
Moscow denies such allegations. In return, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of arming itself with military equipment to Western countries and condemned NATO military maneuvers near Russian borders. Ukraine fears a Russian attack in a few weeks. “The end of January is the most likely time to prepare,” said Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksey Resnikov.
The Ukrainian Secret Service is currently analyzing all possible scenarios. “There is a possibility of a massive escalation from the Russian side,” warned the defense minister. He estimated that Russia has about 100,000 troops stationed near the Ukrainian border, in Moscow-controlled Crimea and in areas held by pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine.
Kiev does not want to leave NATO membership
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba refused to relinquish his apparently interested NATO membership and promised other “guarantees” sought by Russia. Kiev also called on the US and its allies to reject the demands made by Moscow – also to de-escalate tensions along the Russian-Ukrainian border.
On Wednesday, Putin called on the West to categorically reject any expansion of NATO to the east. In a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin also criticized Kiev for using Turkish-made drones in clashes with pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin said in a transcript that Kiev is trying to disrupt the peace deal in eastern Ukraine through “provocative” military actions.
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