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Russian warships on the way to the Black Sea
Photo: HANDOUT / AFP
The situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border is worsening.
According to the EU, Moscow has now stationed more than 100,000 soldiers there and on the annexed Crimean peninsula.
But that's not all: According to Russian state media, Russia plans to close parts of the Black Sea to foreign warships and other state ships from the end of April to the end of October.
The Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov would be affected.
The US government has strongly condemned these plans.
Such a step would be a further "unfounded escalation" of Moscow in the Ukraine conflict, said Ned Price, spokesman for the State Department in Washington.
He accused Russia of wanting to "undermine and destabilize" Ukraine.
The development is "particularly worrying" because there are also credible reports of the transfer of Russian troops to the Crimea and the Ukrainian border.
The Russian troop strength there has reached a level never before since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict in 2014, Price said.
The spokesman for the US Department of Defense, John Kirby, spoke on Monday of the largest Russian troop deployment since 2014.
In the conflict with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, which has continued since then, more than 13,000 people were killed.
Since mid-February there has been increased fighting again, which has further undermined an already fragile ceasefire.
"We call on Russia to withdraw its troops from the Ukrainian border," said EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell.
Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) also expressed concern about the "military march".
The aim is to prevent "unintended events from setting in motion a spiral of military escalation," he said in Berlin.
It is necessary for both sides to have "a reasonable dialogue".
as / AFP
