Russia says Ukraine’s actions raise risk of broader conflict

Bloomberg

Russia warned that growing violence in Ukraine could set off a broader military conflict, brushing off German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s call to pull back troops massed near the border.
“The escalation of tensions in the southeast of Ukraine justifies the measures Russia is taking,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call, referring to the military buildup. “The trend in the behaviour of the Ukrainian side creates the risk of a resumption of full-scale military action,” he said.
Ceasefire violations in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine have grown in recent weeks and Russia has moved thousands of troops into the area near the border. Moscow accuses Ukraine of preparing for a new offensive against the Russian-backed separatist regions there.
Russia’s allegations “are not true,” Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak, the Ukrainian army chief, said in a statement. “Russian is artificially exacerbating the situation to achieve its own geostrategic goals.”
Amid the deepening crisis, Turkey said its Nato ally the US had notified it that two warships would cross into the Black Sea and remain there until May 4. Russia continued nationwide military exercises announced by the Defense Ministry.
Calling the current escalation “rather unprecedented,” Peskov’s comments seemed to reflect a hardening of Russia’s position. They came a day after the Kremlin’s top envoy for the conflict seemed to play down the significance of what Moscow claims is a military buildup by Kyiv in the contested region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spent a second day visiting frontline troops in the country’s east.
Putin accused Ukraine of “dangerous provocative actions aimed at aggravating the situation” in the conflict zone,
according to the statement.
Merkel spoke to Putin about the situation in a call, appealing to him to reverse the buildup to reduce tensions. Putin responded that Russia has the right to move its forces where it deems necessary on its own territory, Peskov said.
Zelenskiy plans to speak to Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron about the Russian military presence near Ukraine’s border. He may go to Paris for talks with Macron before the end of next week, the Kyiv Post reported, citing the French ambassador to Ukraine.
The growing tensions have drawn calls from the US and its Nato allies for Russia to de-escalate, but so far the Kremlin has shown little sign of backing down.
Russian officials and analysts suggested the buildup was meant as a signal to Kyiv and its western allies not to make a move against the Moscow-backed separatists, rather than a prelude to actual military action. But the cease-fire violations and rising rhetoric have raised fears that combat could spread as it did in the 2014 war, which killed thousands.
Peskov didn’t specify what evidence the Kremlin saw for his claim that the risk of “civil war” in Ukraine is rising. Authorities in Kyiv reject that idea, arguing that the 2014 conflict was fomented by Russian intervention and pointing the finger at Moscow for the latest escalation.
The US has said the Russian buildup near the border is the largest since the war. Peskov declined to comment on the scale of the military moves, saying only that Russia views them as justified.
The troop buildup and the increasingly warlike rhetoric reflect a growing risk of direct conflict with Ukraine, said Andrey Kortunov, head of the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council.
With hundreds of thousands of residents in the separatist areas now Russian citizens thanks to a Kremlin campaign to distribute passports, Russia may openly come to their defense if Kyiv launches an attack on the rebel-held east, he said by phone.
Ukraine says it has no plans for such an offensive.
“Moscow is trying to frighten Kyiv but it’s hard to say if the Ukrainians will get the message,” Kortunov said.

Blinken to return to Brussels for more Nato meetings
Bloomberg

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to return to Brussels next week for more meetings with Nato and European officials, according to people familiar with the
matter, as the US grows increasingly concerned about Russian troop movements near Ukraine.
The meetings will take up most of the week, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing plans that haven’t been made public. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be in Brussels at the same time, for a meeting with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
A person familiar with the matter said that, separate from the Nato talks, Blinken would meet with European officials. The situation in Ukraine was very likely to be on the agenda, the person added, but would not dominate it.
The talks, the person said, would encompass several challenges faced by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Blinken traveled to Brussels in late March on his first trip to Europe after being confirmed by the US Senate. That visit was intended to assure allies that President Donald Trump’s “America First” era was over and the US was fully committed to Nato. Trump often criticized the alliance and complained that European countries were not paying enough for their defense.
Earlier this week, Russia announced the beginning of mass military drills, heightening concerns about the risk of new clashes along the country’s border with Ukraine that could lead to a broader conflict. Some 13,000 people have died in seven years of combat.
Ukraine is just one of the many foreign policy problems confronting President Joe Biden and his administration. China’s latest threats against Taiwan have generated widespread concern. The US also faces a May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan under a deal the Trump administration made with the Taliban, though Biden has made clear he won’t meet that timeframe.