The Russian government expelled on February 17 the deputy head of the US diplomatic delegation in Moscow, Bartle Gorman. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have accused separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine of carrying out bombings, one of which hit a kindergarten, charges the secessionists deny.
Russia expels the deputy US ambassador, Bartle Gorman, in Moscow and Washington promises to respond.
Although the specific reasons for the withdrawal have not been disclosed, the decision comes amid US accusations that a Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory is imminent.
The Joe Biden government and its Western allies also strongly refute the Kremlin’s announcements about the withdrawal of some of the troops stationed in the vicinity of Ukraine.
The diplomatic mission of the Joe Biden government in the Russian capital announced that this move by the Kremlin will not go unanswered.
“We can confirm that Russia has expelled the deputy head of the US diplomatic representation, Bart Gorman, who is the second person in the embassy and one of the key employees of the team,” he said in a statement quoted by the Russian press. .
Ukraine accuses pro-Russian soldiers of bombing a kindergarten
From the latent threat to the fire shot. “Multiple bombings” have been recorded in the last hours in the Donbass region and the alarms are going off. The exchange of accusations has not been long in coming in the midst of what NATO has pointed out as the potentially most dangerous confrontation with Moscow since the Cold War.
Ukrainian authorities accused pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country of firing projectiles, including some that hit a kindergarten. No deaths were reported from this incident.
“With particular cynicism, the Russian occupation troops shelled the village of Stanytsa Lugansk in the Lugansk region. As a result of the use of heavy artillery weapons by the terrorists, the shells hit the kindergarten building,” they detailed. Ukrainian authorities. According to preliminary data, two civilians were hit by projectiles.
For their part, the Russian-speaking secessionists signaled to the government forces in Kiev to open fire on what they consider to be their territory, at least four times in the last 24 hours.
“Ukrainian armed forces have crudely violated the ceasefire regime using heavy weapons that, according to the Minsk agreements, should be withdrawn,” the separatists said in a statement.
Details of the incidents have not been independently confirmed and witnesses in the area suggest they were on a similar scale to ceasefire violations that have occurred during the last eight years of conflict.
However, they are recorded at times of high tension due to the extensive Russian military deployment for several months, increased in recent weeks with military exercises near the Ukrainian borders.
Moscow has deployed between 100,000 and 150,000 troops, according to Kiev and US estimates, in addition to heavy artillery, tanks and other military equipment, with the US and its allies insisting an “invasion” would be imminent.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s government and its Western allies have repeatedly said in recent weeks that they believe Moscow could use an incident in the separatist conflict as justification to proceed with an invasion.
Russia for its part has denied these intentions and accuses Kiev of trying to provoke an escalation to recover rebel territory by force.
US: Russia adds up to 7,000 troops to border, despite withdrawal announcements
The United States charged that Moscow has recently added up to 7,000 military personnel along the Ukrainian borders. A warning that contradicts the statements by the Kremlin about the withdrawal of some troops stationed in the vicinity of its neighboring country.
Since last Tuesday, February 15, the Russian Defense Ministry made the first announcement to return an unspecified number of soldiers deployed near the border with Ukraine. This was followed, on Wednesday, by the military withdrawal in the province of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
But Maxar Technologies, a commercial satellite imaging company that has been monitoring the Russian troop buildup, reported that military activity is steadily increasing near Ukraine, including a new boat bridge and a new field hospital in bordering Belarus. northern Ukraine.
He also noted that some forces left an airfield in the allied nation for Moscow, but it was unclear where they went.
A senior Joe Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some troops have recently arrived and there has been a marked increase in false claims by the Russians that the Kremlin could use as a pretext for an attack. .
The official said the alleged preparation of false statements includes reports of unmarked graves of civilians allegedly killed by Ukrainian forces, as well as allegations that Washington and Kiev are developing biological or chemical weapons, and that the West is channeling guerrillas to kill Ukrainians.
A Russian invasion of Ukraine did not materialize on Wednesday, February 16, as US government officials feared, but to the West that does not mean it will not happen.
Moscow has everything ready to launch a large-scale invasion in a short time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized in recent hours.
“They have enough troops, enough capabilities to launch a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine with very little or no warning time (…) That is what makes the situation so dangerous,” he stressed at a press conference in Brussels.
“Sanctions are on the table”
As Russian troops move ever closer to Ukraine, the European Union (EU) is ready to present a tough package of sanctions as soon as necessary.
“We have already prepared a complete package of sanctions (…) We have prepared a very tough package and I am ready to present this package as soon as necessary,” said the bloc’s top diplomatic representative, Joseph Borrell.
The president of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, stressed that “sanctions are on the table”, after a meeting dedicated to Ukraine between the leaders of the European Union in Brussels.
Countries outside the community bloc such as the United States and the United Kingdom also have a list of economic sanctions to be imposed on the government of Vladimir Putin if he decides to attack Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine minimizes its chances of joining NATO
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has so far been reluctant to abandon his country’s intentions to join both the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO), appears to be taking a step forward. back in the face of intense military pressure from Russia.
Zelensky now downplays the chances of Kiev joining the military alliance. In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, broadcast this Thursday, the president stated that, although Ukraine has wanted to join NATO for years, the process is not advancing.
“Not only Russia is against (our) membership. Some individual NATO members support Moscow’s position. That is an open secret (…) We do not have it easy with these neighbors and we do not want risks or diplomatic disputes,” he asserted.
The president added that the Ukrainians themselves should decide on the possible membership, but that for now it would not make sense to hold a referendum on it.
“The road to NATO and the EU is very long,” he said, urging NATO members to support Ukraine.
Since the last escalation in 2014, known as the Donbass war, Kiev and Moscow have been technically at odds, but the Kremlin’s fury has flared again over Ukraine’s intentions to join both NATO and the European Union.
Russia has made it clear to the West that it should desist from expanding towards its borders and move away from its old ally in the former Soviet Union with which it shares ethnic and cultural origins, but above all it is a strategic point in the Black Sea that is not willing to lose.
This was specified in the list of demands that he delivered to Washington and the military alliance on December 17, to negotiate a de-escalation of tensions on the border.
If Ukraine’s accession to the two Western organizations does not materialize, Russia’s influence over Ukraine would materialize again, since at the end of 2013 the then Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych backed down on the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement that was close to to officially bring his country closer to the EU and was shipwrecked precisely because of pressure from Moscow.
With Reuters and AP