Dangerous winds of war are blowing in Eastern Europe and the increasingly bitter back and forth between Washington and Moscow threatens to precipitate things.
Thus, if for America "it is clear that the Russians have no intention now of reducing tensions", with thousands of troops deployed on the Ukrainian border, on the other hand the Kremlin lashes out against the Alliance, guilty in its opinion of heighten them, the tensions, with "hysterical announcements".
"Russia cannot ignore NATO's activity," Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov thundered.
"And the risk of the Ukrainian armed forces staging provocations in the Donbass is now higher," he commented.
All while in Brussels the 27 EU foreign ministers are seeking "coordination" on the line to be taken with Moscow.
The interview -
Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron will have a conversation on the situation in Ukraine "before the end of the week".
This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, after Macron yesterday said he wanted to present a series of proposals to Moscow and Kiev to encourage de-escalation.
The deployments
- NATO takes a step forward and strengthens the contingent in Eastern Europe, with a slew of allied countries announcing the dispatch of men and vehicles, including ships and fighters. The United States is also evaluating the displacement of troops in the Baltic (we are talking about 5,000 soldiers, which can be increased if necessary) and the Pentagon has put 8,500 soldiers on alert, while President Biden has called European leaders - including Mario Draghi - for a round of consultations.
From Ukraine -
A threat of invasion of Ukraine by Russia "does not exist" at the moment.
This was stated by Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov in an interview on ICTV television in Kiev, shot by the Interfax agency.
"There are risky scenarios, they are possible in terms of probability in the future", added Reznikov, "but to date such a threat does not exist".
"Up to now - he insisted - the Russian armed forces have not created attack units capable of showing that they are ready for an offensive tomorrow".