RUSSIA TO TAKE ‘MEASURES’ IF WESTERN TROOPS SENT TO UKRAINE: KREMLIN

Fri 02 April 2021:

The appearance of the US troops in Ukraine will make Russia take additional steps at strengthening its security, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

The US State Department has accused Russia of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. Moreover, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has said that Washington promised to help Kiev if tensions in Donbas escalate.

“Undoubtedly, such a development [the appearance of the US military in Ukraine] would lead to a further increase in tensions near the Russian borders.

Of course, this will require additional measures from the Russian side to ensure its security,” Peskov told reporters.

The Kremlin also slammed as inappropriate Kiev’s claims of Washington’s readiness to send the military to Ukraine, as Russia does not pose any threats.

“Raising a question that Russia is some kind of enemy, from our point of view, is unacceptable, inappropriate. Russia does not threaten anyone, it has never threatened anyone. This is what our position is based on,” Peskov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Russia of massing troops on the border and Washington pledged to stand by Ukraine in the event of Russian “aggression”.

“There is no doubt such a scenario would lead to a further increase in tensions close to Russia’s borders. Of course, this would call for additional measures from the Russian side to ensure its security,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He declined to specify which measures would be adopted.

He insisted that Russia was not making moves to threaten Ukraine.

“Russia is not threatening anyone, it has never threatened anyone,” Peskov said, accusing Ukraine’s armed forces of “multiple” provocations.

The war in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula following an uprising that ousted Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych.

Moscow and Kiev this week blamed each other for a rise in violence between government forces and Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which has undermined a ceasefire brokered last year.