On Ukraine, Russia has no room to back down

MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin confirms that Russia have no room to retreat in a stalemate with United States of America (USA) over Ukraine. Putin also said Russia would be forced to give a tough response unless the West stopped its “aggressive line”.

Putin made the remarks to military officials as Russia urged the US and NATO to respond to proposals made last week for a series of binding security guarantees from the West.

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“What the US is doing in Ukraine is at our doorstep. And they have to understand that we have nowhere else to turn. Did they think we would just watch casually?” Putin said, as quoted by Reuters on Tuesday (12/21/2021).

“If the aggressive line of our Western comrades continues, we will take adequate technical-military response measures and react strongly to hostile measures,” the Russian leader continued.

Putin did not specify the nature of these steps, but his expressions mirror those used previously by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who has warned that Russia could redeploy medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe in response to what he sees as a NATO plan to do so. same.

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Previously, Russia had rejected Ukrainian and US accusations that it may be preparing for an invasion of Ukraine as early as next month by tens of thousands of Russian troops ready within range of the border.

According to Putin, Russia needs promises from the West, including a promise not to carry out NATO military activities in Eastern Europe – because its security is threatened by Ukraine’s growing relations with Western alliances. In addition, there is also the question of the possibility of NATO missiles being deployed against Russia on Ukrainian territory.

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