US: Russia seeks motive for invasion with genocide claim | Abroad

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Kiev is committing genocide in eastern Ukraine. Also known as the Donbass, that region is home to pro-Russian separatists who have been waging war against the government army since 2014.

A spokesman for the US State Department, Ned Price, says Moscow is making these claims to have a motive to invade Ukraine. “Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen Russian officials spread countless stories in the media that could serve as a pretext for an invasion,” Price said. The allegations are also widely shared on social media in Russia, according to the ministry’s information.

Earlier this month, according to the Americans, a fake video about a Ukrainian genocide was released. At the time, intelligence services also spoke of “an extremely extensive conspiracy.” Even real corpses would have been used to depict battle victims and actors would have played mourners.

De-escalation

US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz want Russia to take action to ease tensions over Ukraine. The two world leaders say there are no signs that Moscow is serious about withdrawing troops from the Ukrainian border.

Scholz visited Moscow this week and later called the US president to catch up. “The risk of further military aggression by Russia against Ukraine is high,” the German government said in a statement. It once again made it clear that Moscow could count on “serious consequences” if it invades Ukraine.

Russia has already sent troops to the border with that neighboring country. Moscow says it feels threatened by NATO expansion and wants guarantees that Ukraine cannot join that alliance. Russian President Vladimir Putin had indicated after a meeting with Scholz that he still saw opportunities for diplomacy. Biden and Scholz applaud that.

The Russian authorities themselves say they are already withdrawing troops from the border. They released images showing tanks and other military vehicles departing. This led to critical reactions internationally. The US warned that the troop build-up will continue.

—