MOSCOW (AP) – The Kremlin on Friday said it feared the resumption of full-scale fighting in eastern Ukraine and could take steps to protect civilians there, a stern warning coming amid Russian troop build-ups along the border.
The statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov reflects the Kremlin’s determination to prevent Ukraine from using force to try to regain control of the separatist – controlled area in the east of the country.
Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. More than 14,000 people died in the conflict, and efforts to negotiate a political settlement stalled.
Officials in Ukraine and the West have expressed concern over the past few weeks about the growing ceasefire violations in the country’s industrial heartland, known as the Donbas. They also expressed concern about the build-up of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a conversation with Putin on Thursday that this troop reinforcement should be removed to weaken the situation.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday that the US was also increasingly concerned about the build – up of troops, pointing out that Russia now has more troops on the border with Ukraine than ever since 2014.
In response to these statements, Peskov said that Russia is free to deploy its troops on its territory wherever it wants. He accused the Ukrainian military of an ‘escalation of provocative actions’ along the line of control in the east that threatened Russia’s security.
“The Kremlin fears that a civil war could resume in Ukraine, and if a civil war resumes a full-scale military operation near our borders that would threaten the security of the Russian Federation,” Peskov said. “The continuing increase in tension is quite unprecedented.”
Dmitry Kozak, a Putin assistant who serves as Russia’s main negotiator with Kiev, warned Ukraine on Thursday against violence to retake the east, saying an end to Ukraine would be an end.
Kozak said Russia would probably act to protect civilians if they faced a potential massacre such as the one that took place during the Bosnian war in Srebrenica in 1995.
Asked about Kozak’s comments, Peskov said that in the event of a Srebrenica-like threat, “all countries, including Russia, will take steps to prevent such tragedies.” He claims that virulent nationalist rhetoric in Ukraine incites hatred against the mostly Russian-speaking population in the east.
An official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the United States had informed Turkey that two US warships would travel to the Black Sea and stay there until May 4. The official speaks on condition of anonymity in accordance with government rules. said the U.S. had notified Turkey 15 days before the ship’s transit in accordance with a convention regulating shipping through Turkish Strait.
Such visits by the US and other NATO ships have hampered Moscow, which has long stripped Ukraine of its efforts to build defensive ties with the West and its quest to eventually join NATO.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Friday that Ukraine’s NATO bid would not only lead to a massive increase in the southeast, but could also have irreversible consequences for Ukraine’s state capture. ‘
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Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.