The United States and the United Kingdom raised the threat of new sanctions against Russia on Sunday, as Washington and its NATO allies step up their efforts to dissuade Moscow from invading Ukraine.
London, which has multiplied announcements in an attempt to increase pressure on Moscow, said on Sunday that it wanted to target Russian interests “which directly interest the Kremlin”. In Washington, two elected Democrats and Republicans said that Congress was close to an agreement on a bill providing for new economic sanctions against Russia.
Influential Democratic Senator Bob Menendez thus promised on CNN “serious consequences” in Moscow in the event of an invasion of Ukraine, Republican Senator Jim Risch evoking him a “devastating price” for Russian President Vladimir Putin .
“Equitable Relations”
Tensions are at their highest between Moscow and the West over Ukraine, near which Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops and heavy weaponry.
Among the arsenal of sanctions mentioned, the United Kingdom and the United States plan to target the strategic Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, or even Russian access to transactions in dollars, the main currency in international trade.
Faced with the prospect of these new sanctions, Moscow demanded to be treated on an equal footing by Washington. “We want good, fair, mutually respectful and equal relations with the United States, as with any other country in the world,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on television.
De-escalation
Russia “does not want to remain in a position where [sa] security is routinely breached,” Lavrov continued.
Moscow will send the countries of NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) “an official request urging them to specify how they intend to implement their commitment not to strengthen their security to the detriment of the safety of others”.
Faced with the threat of an invasion, Kiev on Sunday called on Russia to withdraw its troops massed along the border between the two countries and to continue dialogue with the West if it “seriously” wants a de-escalation of tensions.
“Selfish Purposes”
Russia has been accused since the end of 2021 of having massed up to 100,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border in preparation for an attack. Moscow denies any plan in this direction, while demanding written guarantees for its security, including the rejection of Ukraine’s accession to NATO and the end of the military reinforcement of the Atlantic Alliance in the East.
This key request was rejected by the United States this week in a written response to Moscow. The Kremlin said it is still considering its reaction.
A close associate of President Vladimir Putin, the head of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, for his part accused the West of exacerbating tensions themselves.
“We don’t want war. And we don’t need it at all. And those who impose it, especially Westerners, are pursuing their own selfish designs,” he said, quoted by Russian news agencies.
Senior US diplomatic official Victoria Nuland, meanwhile, said there was no sign of de-escalation coming from Vladimir Putin.
“On the contrary, he has moved more troops since we encouraged him to defuse” the situation, she said on the American channel CBS on Sunday.
Deploy Troops
Several Western countries have announced in recent days the dispatch of new contingents to Eastern Europe.
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will propose next week to NATO a deployment of troops to respond to the rise of “Russian hostility” towards Ukraine. An announcement appreciated by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kouleba, who both hailed the British “leadership”.
The Ukrainian authorities asked Westerners on Saturday to remain “firm and vigilant” in negotiations with Russia, while calling not to sow “panic” about the imminence of an invasion.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki are expected in Kiev this week.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand arrived in Kyiv on Sunday for a two-day visit. She announced the movement of Canadian military troops to western Ukraine and the temporary repatriation of all non-essential employees stationed at her embassy in Kyiv.