Summary
Russia claims that the increase in the army has always been for military exercises and that there is no threat to Ukraine or any other country. However, he has refrained from giving clear answers on many issues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held an extraordinary meeting of the Russian Security Council on Monday amid escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine. At the meeting, Putin said that Russia was considering a request to recognize the independence of the separatist republics of eastern Ukraine. Rebel leaders of two self-declared republics in eastern Ukraine have called on Putin to recognize their independence. At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has spoken of meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Geneva on Thursday.
Russia claims there is no threat to Ukraine from military exercises
Russia claims that the increase in the army has always been for military exercises and that there is no threat to Ukraine or any other country. But Russia has refused to give any explanation for the gathering of the biggest military power in Europe since the Cold War. On Saturday, 15 border crossings in Russia’s Rostov region were opened to refugees from the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Later that day the head of the pro-Russian separatist DPR Denis Pushilin announced that he had signed an agreement on general mobilization.
Phone talk between Putin and Macron
On Sunday, Putin and Macron had a phone conversation at the initiative of the French side. According to media reports, the President agreed to the talks on Ukraine on Monday at the Tripartite Group (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE – Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe). The Russian president also reportedly confirmed Macron’s intention to withdraw troops from Belarus after the ongoing joint military exercise ends.
Recent tensions are the result of a gathering of about 150,000 troops from the Donbass region in Russia’s east to Belarus in the north and the Crimea border in the south, which began in cold weather.
Expansion
Russian President Vladimir Putin held an extraordinary meeting of the Russian Security Council on Monday amid escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine. At the meeting, Putin said that Russia was considering a request to recognize the independence of the separatist republics of eastern Ukraine. Rebel leaders of two self-declared republics in eastern Ukraine have called on Putin to recognize their independence. At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has spoken of meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Geneva on Thursday.
Russia claims there is no threat to Ukraine from military exercises
Russia claims that the increase in the army has always been for military exercises and that there is no threat to Ukraine or any other country. But Russia has refused to give any explanation for the gathering of the biggest military power in Europe since the Cold War. On Saturday, 15 border crossings in Russia’s Rostov region were opened to refugees from the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Later that day the head of the pro-Russian separatist DPR Denis Pushilin announced that he had signed an agreement on general mobilization.
Phone talk between Putin and Macron
On Sunday, Putin and Macron had a phone conversation at the initiative of the French side. According to media reports, the President agreed to the talks on Ukraine on Monday at the Tripartite Group (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE – Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe). The Russian president also reportedly confirmed Macron’s intention to withdraw troops from Belarus after the ongoing joint military exercise ends.
Recent tensions are the result of a gathering of about 150,000 troops from the Donbass region in Russia’s east to Belarus in the north and the Crimea border in the south, which began in cold weather.