While the United States highlighted on Friday (11) that Russia could invade Ukraine by next week, the United Kingdom’s Defense Minister, Ben Wallace, said that the Russian government, through the Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu , and the Chief of Staff, Valery Gerasimov, assured that this will not happen.
“We heard statements from Mr Shoigu and General Gerasimov that they would not invade Ukraine,” Wallace told a press conference at the UK embassy in Russia.
Wallace, who described the meeting with the Russian minister as “constructive and frank”, urged Russia’s military leadership “to engage in dialogue as a way of resolving any concerns the Russian government may have”.
“I made clear the tragic consequences that any invasion of Ukraine would have for all people, both Ukrainian and Russian, and for the security of Europe,” he emphasized.
The British minister stressed that the fact that Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and is carrying out maneuvers with Belarus a few kilometers from Ukraine allows Moscow to attack the neighboring country “at any time”.
“Obviously, this magnitude of forces gives them the ability to carry out a wide range of actions, including an invasion of a neighboring country at any time,” he said.
According to Wallace, “perhaps due to the state of combat readiness due to the maneuvers in action in Belarus, it is clear that this is an option that these forces have.”
“We made it very clear at NATO that an invasion would have tragic consequences and I am here, for example, to look for a way to defuse this tension,” he said.
“I have clearly heard from the Russian government that there is no intention to invade Ukraine and I have also heard some of their concerns. We think, as indicated by NATO’s response to the Russian proposal for a treaty (on security guarantees) in December, that these concerns can be addressed through a series of measures,” he said.
In the words of the British minister, these would be “confidence measures, better transparency, inspections, continuation of existing treaties”, but “making it clear that there is an inherent right of all parties to security and to be able to freely choose their alliances”.
Wallace told Shoigu that the Atlantic alliance is a defensive organization and does not want to attack anyone, in response to Russia’s demand that the organization not expand further east and not use offensive weapons near its borders.
The British minister, who noted that relations with Russia are at 0%, said that at this time, “with 100,000 soldiers prepared for combat on the border of another country, it is extremely important that there are no miscalculations or escalations”.
“Only through a relationship and the ability to dialogue in difficult times can we pave the way for de-escalation measures”, he argued.
US believes invasion will take place before the end of the Winter Games
Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had warned of Russia invading Ukraine “at any time, including during the Winter Olympics”, which are taking place in Beijing until the 20th.
The member of the government chaired by Joe Biden made the statements in Melbourne, after meeting with representatives from India, Japan and Australia, during a meeting of the Quad defense alliance. Blinken said that all citizens on Ukrainian territory “should leave” because of the risk of conflict.
“There are signs of a Russian escalation. We are in a window where the invasion can start at any moment,” said the head of US diplomacy, who insisted that the country and allies were “strongly” committed to dialogue.
Blinken warned that work is also underway on deterrence and defense measures and that Moscow will face “massive consequences” if it chooses to invade Ukraine, including economic sanctions, limitations on exports and an increase in the neighboring country’s and NATO’s military capabilities.
In addition, the Defense Secretary highlighted the importance of supporting Kiev in the defense of “territorial integrity” and “sovereignty”.
In this regard, he warned that the border tension, with the threat of 100,000 Russian soldiers and the military maneuvers in Belarus, could set a dangerous precedent in other regions, such as the Indo-Pacific.
Blinken attended a meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) defense alliance, along with the foreign ministers of Japan, Yoshimasa Hayashi, India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and Australia, Marise Payne.
Members of the group, created in 2007 but inactive for years, also agreed on topics such as international “coercion” of “autocratic” governments in the region, not to mention China, as well as climate change and vaccines against Covid-19, among others.
Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser, reiterated the guidance for US citizens to leave Ukraine, as a Russian invasion “will likely begin with aerial bombings and missile strikes that obviously can kill civilians regardless of their nationality.”
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