প্রকাশ: 25/01/2022
NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and
reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia
denounced as Western "hysteria" in response to its build-up of troops
on the Ukraine border.
The US Department of Defense in Washington said about 8,500
American troops were put on heightened alert and were awaiting orders to deploy
to the region, should Russia invade Ukraine.
Tensions are high after Russia massed an estimated 100,000
troops in reach of its neighbour's border, surrounding Ukraine with forces from
the north, east and south.
Russia denies planning an invasion and Moscow is citing the
Western response as evidence that Russia is the target, not the instigator, of
aggression.
President Joe Biden, pushing for transatlantic unity, held
an 80-minute secure video call with a number of European leaders on Monday from
the White House Situation Room to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
Biden told reporters "I had a very, very, very good
meeting" with the Europeans, which included the leaders of Germany,
France, Italy, Britain and Poland. He said there was "total
unanimity."
A White House statement said the leaders "discussed
their joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine,
including preparations to impose massive consequences and severe economic costs
on Russia for such actions as well as to reinforce security on NATO's eastern
flank."
Welcoming a series of deployments announced by alliance
members in recent days, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier said NATO
would take "all necessary measures."
"We will always respond to any deterioration of our
security environment, including through strengthening our collective
defence," Stoltenberg said in a statement.
He told a news conference that the enhanced presence on
NATO's eastern flank could also include the deployment of battlegroups in the
southeast of the alliance.
So far, NATO has about 4,000 troops in multinational
battalions in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, backed by tanks, air
defences and intelligence and surveillance units.
US officials said the Pentagon was finalising efforts to
identify specific units that it could deploy to NATO's eastern flank.
One of the officials said up to 5,000 could be deployed,
while a NATO diplomat said Washington was considering gradually transferring
some troops stationed in western Europe to eastern Europe in the coming weeks.
Denmark, Spain, France and the Netherlands were all planning
or considering sending troops, planes or ships to eastern Europe, NATO said.
Ukraine shares borders with four NATO countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and
Romania.
A Polish official said Warsaw would draw the line at sending
troops to Ukraine.
GROWING TENSIONS
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of
"hysteria" and putting out information "laced with lies".
"As for specific actions, we see statements by the
North Atlantic Alliance about reinforcement, pulling forces and resources to
the eastern flank. All this leads to the fact that tensions are growing,"
he said.
"This is not happening because of what we, Russia, are
doing. This is all happening because of what NATO and the US are doing and due
to the information they are spreading."
Global stock markets skidded as the prospect of a Russian
attack quashed demand for riskier assets such as bitcoin, and bolstered the
dollar and oil. The rouble hit a 14-month low against the dollar, and Russian
stocks and bonds tumbled.
Russia has used its troop build-up to draw the West into
discussions after presenting demands to redraw Europe's security map. It wants
never to admit Ukraine and to pull back troops and weapons from former
Communist countries in eastern Europe that joined it after the Cold War.
Washington says those demands are non-starters but it is
ready to discuss other ideas on arms control, missile deployments and
confidence-building measures.
Russia is awaiting a written US response this week after
talks last Friday - the fourth round this month - produced no breakthrough.
'PAINFUL, VIOLENT AND
BLOODY'
He repeated Western warnings that invading Ukraine would be
"a painful, violent and bloody business" for Russia.
The United States and the European Union, wary of Russia's
intentions since it seized Crimea and backed separatists fighting government
forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014, have told Russia it will face crippling
penalties if it attacks again.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels warned Russia it
would face "massive" consequences, but are divided over how tough to
be on Moscow and did not say what the consequences might be.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told EU President
Charles Michel, who was also on the call with Biden, that it was important for
Kyiv that the EU showed unity.
"Ukraine will not fall for provocations, and together
with its partners, will remain calm and restrained," his office said.
The European Commission, the EU executive body, proposed a
1.2-billion euro ($1.36-billion) financial aid package to help Ukraine mitigate
the effects of the conflict.
A Russian delegation source said political advisers from
Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany would meet in Paris on Wednesday for talks
on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine, in which some 15,000 people have
been killed since 2014. Previous efforts have failed to yield any breakthrough.
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