Moscow, Jan 31 (Agency) Ukraine has urged Russia to pull back its troops from its borders and continue its dialogue with the west if it is “serious” on not wanting war escalation. “If Russian officials are serious when they say they don’t want a new war, Russia must continue diplomatic engagement and pull back military forces it amassed along Ukraine’s borders and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Diplomacy is the only responsible way,” Kyiv’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Sunday. According to Sky News report, Moscow has denied it is planning to invade Ukraine, while at the same time amassing some 120,000 troops near the border of its Eastern European neighbour. “It turns out each time that the line they are supposed to defend is moving further east. Now, it has already come close to Ukraine. They want to also pull this country into there. Thought it is clear to everyone that Ukraine is not ready and it won’t make any contribution whatsoever to the strengthening of NATO’s security,” Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Channel One.
He further said that Keiv’s NATO membership would damage Russia-NATO relations. He said, “This will really undermine relations with the Russian Federation as it will be a gross violation of obligations taken by the presidents of the US and other member states of the alliance. “Let them console themselves with saying that it is ‘defensive’. It does not make things easier for us. The line of defense has already come close to us.”