In the Ukraine crisis, the Russian government has accused US President Joe Biden of “destabilizing” statements.
Moscow – In the conflict, the same statements were “repeated again and again,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday in Moscow. “They don’t help to ease tensions. Rather, they can help to destabilize the situation.”
At a press conference in the White House on Wednesday, Biden again warned of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and threatened Moscow with “serious” consequences if this were to happen.
Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that an invasion of the neighboring country would also result in a “disaster” for Russia: “Our allies and partners are ready to impose heavy costs and significant damage on Russia and the Russian economy.” Also, Russia’s army would suffer “heavy” casualties.
Peskov said Biden’s comments could “raise completely false hopes” in the hotheads of some Ukrainian officials. He accused the Ukrainian side of “possibly wanting to solve the problem in south-eastern Ukraine by force”.
War has been raging in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army since 2014. Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of providing military support to the separatists, which the Kremlin denies.
In the past few weeks, Russia has massed tens of thousands of soldiers on the Ukrainian border. In the West, therefore, an impending attack by Russia on the neighboring country is feared.
Moscow argues that the troop deployment is taking place on its own territory and therefore threatens “no one”. At the same time, the Kremlin says it feels threatened by NATO and is demanding “security guarantees” from the western alliance, including a refrain from further eastward expansion. NATO rejects this.
Because of the crisis, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently in Berlin for talks with European colleagues. On Thursday morning he was received by Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), who wanted to discuss the conflict with Russia with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Great Britain’s Deputy Foreign Minister James Cleverly.
In the afternoon, Blinken will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Blinken held political talks in Kiev on Wednesday. Blinken will meet his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday.
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