MOSCOW —
Russia mentioned Friday that it will not begin a conflict in Ukraine however warned that the U.S. and NATO have ignored its calls for and left little room for compromise within the disaster.
President Vladimir Putin instructed French President Emmanuel Macron that the West had failed to contemplate Russia’s key circumstances of halting additional NATO growth, stopping deployment of the alliance’s weapons close to Russian borders and rolling again its forces from Japanese Europe, the Kremlin mentioned.
The U.S. and NATO formally rejected these calls for this week, though Washington outlined areas the place discussions are attainable, providing hope that there may very well be a method to keep away from conflict amid the buildup of greater than 100,000 Russian troops close to Ukraine.
Regardless of that, President Biden on Thursday warned Ukraine’s chief of the “distinct risk” that Russia might take navy motion towards the previous Soviet state in February. Russia has repeatedly denied having any such plans.
Putin instructed Macron that Moscow would research the U.S. and NATO response earlier than deciding its subsequent transfer, based on a Kremlin account of their name. Earlier within the day, Putin held a weekly assembly of his Safety Council, saying solely that it will tackle international coverage points.
Putin has made no public remarks concerning the Western response to Russia’s calls for, however International Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned it left little likelihood for reaching settlement.
“Whereas they are saying they received’t change their positions, we received’t change ours,” Lavrov instructed Russian radio stations in a reside interview. “I don’t see any room for compromise right here....
“There received’t be a conflict so far as it depends upon the Russian Federation — we don’t desire a conflict,” he added. “However we received’t let our pursuits be rudely trampled on and ignored.”
Lavrov mentioned the U.S. had instructed the 2 sides might speak about limits on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, restrictions on navy drills and guidelines to stop accidents between warships and plane. He mentioned that Russia proposed discussing these points years in the past however Washington and its allies by no means took up the provide till now.
Whereas welcoming Washington’s presents on confidence-building measures, Lavrov argued that they have been secondary to Russia’s most important considerations over NATO. He famous that worldwide agreements say the safety of 1 nation should not come on the expense of others — and that he would ship letters to ask his Western counterparts to elucidate their failure to respect that pledge.
“It is going to be onerous for them to wiggle out from answering why they aren’t fulfilling the obligations sealed by their leaders to not strengthen their safety on the expense of others,” he mentioned, referring to a doc signed at a 1999 summit of the Group for Safety and Cooperation in Europe.
Washington has warned Moscow of devastating sanctions if it invades Ukraine, together with penalties concentrating on prime Russian officers and key financial sectors. Requested about attainable sanctions, Lavrov mentioned Moscow had instructed Washington that their introduction would quantity to a whole severing of ties.
Whereas Moscow and the West mull their subsequent steps, NATO mentioned it was bolstering its deterrence within the Baltic Sea area, and the U.S. ordered 8,500 troops on greater alert for potential deployment to Europe.
Russia has launched navy drills involving motorized infantry and artillery items in southwestern Russia, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and dozens of warships within the Black Sea and the Arctic. Russian troops have additionally headed to Belarus for sweeping joint drills, elevating Western fears that Moscow might stage an assault on Ukraine from the north. Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, is simply 50 miles from the border with Belarus.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko mentioned there can be no conflict except Belarus or Russia got here below assault, and accused the West of making an attempt to “drown our Slavic brotherhood in blood.”
“The leaders of some international locations have gone mad. They assume they'll win that conflict,” he mentioned. “However there will likely be no victory. We'll all lose.”
Regardless of the alarming rhetoric, Ukrainian officers have repeatedly tried to undertaking calm.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky downplayed Western warnings of an imminent Russian invasion, saying at a information convention Friday that they created panic amongst buyers within the nation’s monetary markets.
Protection Minister Oleksii Reznikov instructed parliament that the variety of Russian troops close to Ukraine — about 130,000 — was corresponding to a navy buildup final spring, which finally ended after Moscow pulled its forces again after huge workout routines.
“We haven’t noticed any occasions or actions of navy character that considerably differ from what was occurring final spring,” apart from the deployment to Belarus, Reznikov mentioned.
Ukraine already is beset by battle. Following the 2014 ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president in Kyiv, Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and backed an insurgency within the nation’s jap industrial heartland. Preventing between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels has killed greater than 14,000 folks, and efforts to achieve a settlement have stalled.
Throughout Friday’s name with Macron, Putin spoke in favor of constant talks amongst Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany on a stalled peace settlement for jap Ukraine. Presidential envoys from the 4 international locations met Wednesday in Paris and agreed to a different assembly in Berlin in two weeks.
A French official described the dialog between Putin and Macron as a severe and respectful one which spoke of “the need of de-escalation.” The Russian chief made no concessions, based on the official, who spoke on situation of anonymity to explain the dialog.
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