Friday January 21 01:05
The United States warned Thursday that Russia risks reviving the specter of the Cold War, once again threatening Moscow with a strong response if it invades Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that any violation by Russia of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty would “take us back to more dangerous and unstable times, when this continent, and this city, was divided into two parts separated by a buffer zone where soldiers patrolled, while the threat of all-out war over Our heads all.
Blinken made the comparison from Berlin, a city that has been divided by a wall for nearly 30 years, where he held talks Thursday with his European allies on the eve of an important meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.
Russia has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers to the Ukrainian border, raising fears of a military operation.
Moscow denies any plan to attack, and stresses that de-escalation requires written guarantees about its security.
Blinken and the US’s Western allies, in turn, expressed a firm stance.
Blinken said that “any” encroachment on Ukraine’s borders by Russia would lead to a “rapid and severe” reaction from the United States.
To show the unity of Westerners, German Foreign Minister Annalena Birbock also emphasized that the United States and its allies would not hesitate to act.
For his part, her French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, who was also in Berlin, warned the Russians against any desire to establish “Yalta 2”, a new division of spheres of influence between West and East 77 years after the conference that drew the borders of Europe after World War II.
London adopted the same tone, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning that any Russian incursion into Ukraine would be a “disaster for the world”.
In Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there are no so-called “limited incursions”, saying that ensuring “comprehensive security in Europe is impossible without restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
This came in response to a statement by US President Joe Biden, on Wednesday, that caused confusion after he mentioned the possibility of a Russian “limited incursion” into Ukraine.
Then Biden clarified his statements, Thursday, saying that any entry of Russian forces into Ukraine would be considered an “invasion.”
“If any group of Russian units moves on the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion,” Biden said, adding that he was “absolutely clear” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. “This will lead to a harsh and coordinated economic response that I have been talking about in detail with our allies,” he added.
Blinken still hopes to find a diplomatic solution to the tension.
On Wednesday, during a support visit to Kiev, Blinken urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to choose the “peaceful path.”
Source: agencies
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