Tensions in Ukraine | Kiev urges Westerners to be ‘firm’ with Russia

(Kiev) Ukraine on Saturday called on the West to be “firm” in their negotiations with Russia, accused of preparing an invasion of the country, while Washington kept up the pressure by announcing the sending of soldiers to Eastern Europe .

Tensions have been at their highest since the end of 2021 around Ukraine, on whose borders Moscow has massed tens of thousands of soldiers. If Russia defends itself from any plan of attack, it demands guarantees for its security, including the rejection of Kiev joining NATO.

This key request was rejected by the United States this week in a written response to Moscow. But the door remains open to negotiations, the Kremlin having said it wanted to take the time to analyze Washington’s response.

During a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba called on Westerners on Saturday to “be vigilant and firm in contacts with Russia”, saying that he was aiming for “a political settlement and diplomatic” of the crisis.

He also called for “avoiding measures likely to fuel anxiety” and “jeopardize the financial stability” of this former Soviet republic, one of the poorest countries in Europe.

These remarks echo those of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged on Friday not to sow “panic” over the deployment of some 100,000 Russian soldiers at the borders, while several countries including the United States evacuated families of their diplomats.

American reinforcements but “not a lot”

US President Joe Biden, for his part, kept up the pressure by announcing the forthcoming dispatch of a contingent of soldiers to Eastern Europe, news that will not fail to irritate Moscow, which denounces the strengthening of the Alliance in its borders for twenty years.

“I will send American troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries soon,” Mr. Biden, whose country has already placed 8,500 soldiers on alert to reinforce NATO, announced on Friday. He added, however, that these soldiers would be “not many”.

France has announced the dispatch of “several hundred” soldiers to Romania, a border country.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock are expected in Ukraine on February 7 and 8.

In London, Boris Johnson said he was “determined to accelerate diplomatic efforts and strengthen deterrence to avoid bloodshed in Europe”. The British Prime Minister is to meet in the coming days with Vladimir Putin, before traveling to the region.

For his part, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is expected in Kiev on Tuesday. “Poland supports Ukraine to prevent Russian aggression,” Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller tweeted.

Feeling threatened by NATO’s continued enlargement on its borders and by Western support for Ukraine, Russia wants a return to military deployments on the 1997 borders. Russian demands were formally rejected on Wednesday by the states United and NATO.

“The responses of the United States and NATO did not take into account the fundamental concerns of Russia,” noted the Kremlin on Friday, after a conversation between Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The threat of sanctions

“President Putin has expressed no offensive intentions,” noted the French presidency, adding that the two leaders had agreed on the “need for de-escalation.”

The Europeans and the Americans have promised unprecedented sanctions in the event of an attack on Ukraine.

Were mentioned the strategic gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 between Russia and Germany, or even the access of Russians to transactions in dollars, the queen currency in international trade.

The United States also seized the UN Security Council on Thursday, calling for a meeting on Monday because of the “clear threat” posed in their eyes by Russia to “international peace and security”.

For his part, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, assured that Russia did not want “no war” and preferred the “path of diplomacy”.

Moscow had warned that a rejection of its demands would result in reprisals, without further details.

Russian lawmakers have proposed that Moscow recognize the independence of pro-Russian separatist territories in Ukraine, which have been fighting Kiev forces since 2014, and openly supply them with weapons.