2 yıl önce

Russia calls US troop deployment in Ukraine standoff 'destructive' step

Moscow says deployment of 3,000 American troops to eastern Europe would increase tension and "reduce scope for political decision."

AP

A Ukrainian border guard patrols the border with Russia not far from Hoptivka village, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on February 2, 2022.

Russia has called the US decision to deploy several thousand troops in eastern Europe a "destructive" step while touting support from China over Ukraine tensions, as the leaders of France and Germany flagged trips to Moscow to address Western fears of an invasion of Kiev.

The United States on Wednesday said it deployed 3,000 troops to bolster NATO forces in eastern Europe, with President Joe Biden saying, "as long as (President Vladimir Putin) is acting aggressively, we are going to make sure we reassure our NATO allies in eastern Europe that we're there."

In response, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said the move would make it harder for a compromise between the two sides, calling the US deployments "destructive steps, which increase military tension and reduce (the) scope for (a) political decision."

With Russia refusing to pull back 100,000 troops poised on Ukraine's borders, 1,000 US soldiers in Germany have been sent to Romania, and another 2,000 in the United States flown to Germany and Poland.

Western powers have been engaged in intense diplomatic efforts –– coupled with the threat of sanctions against Putin's inner circle –– to deter what they fear to be a looming invasion of ex-Soviet Ukraine, despite strenuous denials from Moscow.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Wednesday he would soon travel to Moscow to discuss the crisis, while France's President Emmanuel Macron said a similar trip may be in the cards –– depending on upcoming telephone talks with other world leaders.

Putin to meet China's Xi

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stressed that the US troop movements were to demonstrate commitment to the NATO alliance and that no American soldiers would be sent to fight in Ukraine, which is not a NATO member.

But that is unlikely to assuage Putin, who has accused the United States and NATO of seeking to "contain" Russia by placing troops and strategic arms on its border.

"Ukraine itself is just a tool to achieve this goal," Putin said on Tuesday in his first major comments in weeks on the crisis.

Putin has demanded guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO, and has implicitly threatened the former Soviet state with the massive military buildup.

Russia also wants NATO and the United States to foreswear the deployment of missile systems near Russia's borders and to pull back NATO forces in eastern Europe.

Putin has left the door open to talks, saying he was studying Western proposals set out last month in response to Russia's demands, and that he hoped that "in the end we will find a solution."

But in a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday, he noted "the unwillingness of NATO to adequately respond to the well-founded Russian concerns," the Kremlin said.

The Kremlin also claimed it had China's support in the standoff, and that would be demonstrated when Putin meets President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday.

Russia and China will discuss closer gas and financial ties during Putin's trip to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, and a long-held idea for a new gas pipeline to China is being examined.

Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will have lunch together on Friday, and could sign more than 15 agreements, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, with lots of new deals being prepared in relation to natural gas.

Here is the NATO written responses to Russian demands, leaked by El Pais pic.twitter.com/B89fEttB4i
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 2, 2022

Leaked documents

Citing leaked documents, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that the Western proposals to Russia, set out in letters by NATO and the United States last month, include arms control and trust-building measures to defuse the situation.

While a guarantee against Ukraine joining NATO was not offered, the documents proposed commitments by the US and Russia "to refrain from deploying offensive ground-launched missile systems and permanent forces with a combat mission in the territory of Ukraine," El Pais reported.

"We did not make this document public," Kirby said, without denying its authenticity.

He said it confirmed that "NATO and its partners are unified in their resolve and open to constructive and serious diplomacy."

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies