Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused Western countries of exacerbating tensions in Ukraine and the Black Sea, further denouncing flights of “strategic bombers” near Russian borders.
• Read also: Boris Johnson warns Moscow against any “military adventurism”
• Read also: US exercises in the Black Sea are a “provocation” Putin said
“Our Western partners are worsening the situation by delivering modern weapons to Kiev and by carrying out provocative military exercises in the Black Sea and other areas close to our border,” he said at a meeting of the ministry. Russian Foreign Office.
“As far as the Black Sea is concerned, it really goes beyond certain limits. Strategic bombers fly 20 kilometers from our borders and transport, as we know, very dangerous weapons ”, continued the Russian president.
He also criticized the West for considering “superficially” warnings from Moscow on crossing “red lines”.
“Our concerns and warnings about NATO’s expansion to the east have been completely ignored,” he continued.
These remarks come in a context of growing tensions between Moscow and Western countries.
NATO, Washington, Paris, and Berlin have denounced in recent days a reinforcement of Russian troops on the eastern borders of Ukraine, where a war with pro-Russian separatists has been underway since 2014. The same year, Moscow annexed the peninsula. Ukrainian woman from the Crimea, in response to a pro-Western revolution.
Russia has already carried out large-scale military maneuvers near Ukraine in the spring of 2021, raising fears of an invasion.
Kiev, which initially downplayed the scale of the deployment of Russian forces at its borders, changed tone on Thursday, notably asking for arms deliveries to its Western allies.