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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Photo: Adrian Dennis/AP
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against invading Ukraine. "We have to make it clear to the Kremlin and Russia that this would be a catastrophic move," Johnson said. From a Russian perspective, too, an invasion would be a "painful, violent and bloody affair." According to Johnson, however, intelligence reports on the situation in the Russian-Ukrainian border area are "pretty grim".
But he believes that a Russian invasion can still be prevented.
“I think common sense can still prevail.” London, like the United States, had previously withdrawn workers from its embassy in Kiev.
They are also in the process of preparing economic sanctions.
The Federal Foreign Office wants to support relatives of employees of the embassy in Kiev if they want to leave the country.
NATO wants to increase troop levels in Eastern Europe
In the morning, NATO announced that it would increase its military presence in Eastern Europe due to tensions with Russia.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the armed forces would be kept on standby and operations would be stepped up with more ships and fighter planes.
Accordingly, countries such as Denmark and Spain are participating, the USA and France are considering it.
According to a report in the New York Times, US President Joe Biden is also considering sending thousands of US soldiers, warships and planes to the Eastern European NATO countries.
One of several variants discussed provides for up to 5,000 soldiers, as the newspaper writes, citing government circles.
The number could therefore be increased tenfold should the situation deteriorate.
A transfer of troops to Ukraine itself has not yet been considered.
The US Department of Defense declined to comment on the report.
With a massive Russian troop build-up near the border with Ukraine, there are fears in the West that the Kremlin may be planning an invasion of the neighboring country.
Moscow rejects this and demands security guarantees from the USA and NATO.
muk/svs/Reuters/dpa