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Josep Borrell at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brest on 13 January
Photo: CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON / EPA
Josep Borrell is concerned about rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
He fears a "de facto integration" of eastern Ukraine in Russia, said the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The pro-Russian separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine were "getting further and further away from Ukraine" and "getting closer and closer to Russia," Borrell said.
There is a threat of a gradual incorporation of the Donbass into Russia.
Relations between Russia and the West are at a low point.
Russia has massed around 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine.
Russian soldiers were also recently transferred to Belarus for a joint maneuver.
The West fears an invasion of Ukraine, which the government in Moscow rejects.
War has been raging in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army for seven years.
More than 13,000 people have been killed since the clashes began.
A ceasefire first declared in 2014 has been breached repeatedly.
Borrell: Attack on Ukraine is "not the most likely scenario"
A massive Russian troop deployment on the Ukrainian border is currently causing massive fears in the West.
Borrell said Monday that a "massive" Russian attack on Ukraine was "not the most likely scenario."
However, there are “other attack options, for example cyber attacks”.
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The websites of several Ukrainian ministries were attacked on Friday night.
Kiev blamed Russia for the cyber attack.
Borrell again warned Moscow of the consequences of military aggression against Ukraine.
In such a case, there would be "sanctions" that would be discussed at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers on January 24 in Brussels, said the foreign policy officer.
Against the background of the conflict with Russia, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) will meet with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow this Tuesday.
On Monday, Baerbock met her Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiev.
fek/AFP