Kuleba informed Le Drian about the actions of the Russian Federation aimed at destabilizing the security situation in the temporarily occupied territories. The Foreign Minister also drew attention to the strengthening of Russian propaganda, which threatens Ukraine with war.
“The current escalation contains a threatening element that we have not seen before. We are talking about numerous statements by Russian officials who openly threaten Ukraine with war almost every day and speak publicly about the destruction of our state. We regard them as a confession of aggressive intentions.” said Kuleba.
At the same time, he assured that Ukraine does not want war and “remains committed to the political and diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.” In the current situation, clear and strong public signals from the international community in support of Ukraine are important, Kuleba added.
- In 2014, immediately after the annexation of Crimea, Russia launched an armed aggression in eastern Ukraine. The fighting is between the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the one hand and the Russian army and Russian-backed militants who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on the other. Officially, the Russian Federation does not recognize its invasion of Ukraine, despite the facts and evidence presented by Ukraine.
- July 22, 2020 Trilateral Contact Group agreed on a full and comprehensive ceasefire in Donbass since midnight on July 27. Ukrainian side regularly reports violations by the militants of the ceasefire regime. On April 1, at the Office of the President, they said that since the beginning of 2021, the Russian occupation troops in the Donbass violated the “silence” mode more than 570 times.
- Recently, the situation in Donbass has worsened. In particular, on March 26, 2021, in the area of the village of Shumy, Donetsk region, illegal armed groups of Russia opened fire on Ukrainian positions. Four soldiers were killed, including a lieutenant colonel Sergey Koval, two more were injured. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak clarified that the Ukrainian military died near Shumy by sniper fire.
- In late March – early April, the media and eyewitnesses began to publish video evidence that Russia was actively transfers military equipment to Crimea across the Kerch bridge and pulls troops to the border with Ukraine (according to American officials, the Russian Federation could transfer to the border about 4 thousand servicemen).
- On March 30, Khomchak confirmed that the Russian Federation builds up troops near the border with Ukraine in the south, east and north: in the Bryansk, Voronezh regions, as well as in the occupied Crimea, which “poses a threat to the military security of the state.” Ukrainian intelligence said that Russia wants to expand military presence on the territory controlled by the “DPR” and “LPR” militants through the introduction of regular units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and did not rule out an attempt to move Russian troops deep into the territory of Ukraine.
- Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, on April 8 at the press center of the Russian “Interfax” threatened that if Kiev starts hostilities in Donbass, it will become “beginning of the end” for Ukraine… The President’s Office replied that Ukraine can no longer be surprised threatening rhetoric from Moscow.
–
– .
