Lavrov: “Moscow does not want war, but our interests are not trampled on.” Within a couple of weeks, a new meeting with the Americans
Concern is growing in the White House about the crisis in Ukraine. And Joe Biden does not hide his fears that the Russian offensive could come within a couple of weeks, around mid-February.
On the other hand, tensions are constantly increasing and the adoption of a new package of sanctions against Russia by the US would amount to an interruption of relations between the two countries. The Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov said, quoted by TASS: “If it depended on the Russian Federation, there would be no wars – he explained -. We do not want wars, but we will not allow our interests to be brutally attacked, we will not allow our interests to be ignored ».
The minister also anticipated that “a new meeting” between Russia and the US “is expected within a couple of weeks”, without specifying the date and level at which the talks will take place. The last meeting was held a week ago between Lavrov himself and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Of course, Russia denies planning an invasion, but the tens of thousands of soldiers on the Ukrainian border seem to confirm otherwise. The President of the United States also spoke on the phone Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to whom he reiterated the “readiness of the US together with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia invades Ukraine further”. Zelensky, on the other hand, recalled the “recent diplomatic efforts to reduce the escalation” calling for new “joint actions for the future”.
However, according to anonymous sources cited by CNN, it seems that the two leaders had a rather animated discussion not agreeing on how close the Russian threat was. Some military experts, for example, are convinced that Russia is waiting for the ground in Ukraine to freeze in order to be able to move with heavy equipment.
If Russia were to invade Ukraine, it wouldn’t be the first time. Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimean peninsula in 2014. It also supports rebels who soon after seized large areas of the eastern Donbass region.
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