The European Union expressed its concern Friday, November 12 on Russian military movements near the border with Ukraine, about which Washington for its part asked for explanations from Moscow.
"
We are continuing to monitor the situation and the information we have gathered so far is quite worrying,
" Peter Stano, spokesman for European diplomat Josep Borrell, said at a press briefing.
He said the 27 EU member states were talking to the US and UK about this.
"
We are ready to consider measures if necessary with these partners,
" he said.
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Washington on Wednesday asked
Russia for
"
clarity
" on "
unusual
"
troop movements
near the Russian-Ukrainian border.
"
We have no clarity on Moscow's intentions but we know its strategy
", declared the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kouleba.
“
Our concern is that Russia is making the grave mistake of attempting to replicate what it did in 2014, when it amassed its forces along the border and entered sovereign Ukrainian territory, while wrongly claiming to have been provoked,
”he added.
"Russia poses no threat to anyone"
Ukraine has been at odds with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of its territory since 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed the situation with US President Joe Biden during a visit to Washington this week. “
The EU and the US fully support the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And we fully support them in their efforts to modernize their economy and strengthen their resilience,
”she tweeted on Wednesday.
A NATO official said that the Alliance “
regularly monitors the movements of Russian forces. It is important to ensure transparency and to avoid any miscalculation,
”he said. The Ukrainian foreign minister is due to have talks in Brussels on Monday with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
"
Russia poses no threat to anyone (...), we mind our own affairs and take measures to ensure our security if necessary, if there are provocative actions of our opponents near our borders
", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. According to him, "
NATO forces are very, very active and act boldly in the immediate proximity of our borders, in the air, on water or on land
".
Asked Thursday whether the deployment of Russian military forces meant that Moscow intended to invade Ukraine, Deputy Russian Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy assured that "
it had never been planned, never been done, and that it will never happen
”.
"
Unless we are provoked of course, by Ukraine or by someone else,
" he added, however.
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