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The NATO partners and Ukraine have been accusing Russia for days of stoking tensions by deploying large troops on the Ukrainian border.
Berlin / Kiev – The Russian troop deployment on the Ukrainian border worries the West – but according to a media report there are differences in the assessment of Moscow’s intentions. The US feared a “new attack by Russia on Ukraine like in 2014”.
Security circles in Berlin and Kiev, on the other hand, assume that Russia has attempted intimidation. That reports the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS).
Washington does not know the intentions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday. “But we know what happened in the past.” Russia had previously invoked “a sham provocation by Ukraine or another country” and used this as a pretext for the annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
Troop deployment of Russia on the border with Ukraine: Moscow speaks of “hysteria”
Meanwhile, Moscow has accused Washington of reacting “hysterically” in the case. “This hysteria is artificially whipped up,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov on state television on Sunday. “Those who sent their soldiers from abroad accuse us of unusual military activities on our own territory. I mean the USA. “
According to FAS the US fear an attack in December, when the soil in Eastern Europe freezes and tanks no longer sink into the mud. In Berlin, too, Putin’s heightened rhetoric was heard when he spoke of “red lines” and an “escalation” due to US and NATO military maneuvers in the Black Sea last week.
Russian troops at the border: danger of an invasion according to Ukraine only “increased”
According to information from FAS Berlin security circles interpret the statements as saying that Russia will no longer tolerate the usual bilateral exercises between the USA or Great Britain and Ukraine, as well as the delivery of US anti-tank weapons. Germany therefore does not see an acute danger of war.
The Ukrainian leadership thinks similarly to them FAS writes. She referred to a statement by the first deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Ruslan Demchenko, according to which the “risk of an invasion of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine” is “increased”, but currently no statement can be made about “how high it is.” Degree of military preparation of the Kremlin is “.
Troop deployment in front of Ukraine in March: Moscow ends maneuvers after weeks
As early as March, Russia pulled thousands of soldiers, heavy military equipment, naval ships and air force planes near the Ukrainian border in a massive deployment of troops. After weeks, Moscow finally declared the alleged maneuver over.
According to information from Kiev, Russia has now again drawn 114,000 soldiers in eastern Ukraine. Around 32,000 troops are stationed on the annexed Crimean peninsula. (AFP / frs)
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