Britain warns Russia of “strategic mistake” with Ukraine | Messages


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Caution comes from London as Putin calls for an “immediate response” from Kiev’s western allies over security requirements.

The UK Foreign Secretary has warned Moscow that a Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine would be a costly mistake as tensions continue to mount following the recent buildup near the border.

“Any Russian incursion would be a massive strategic mistake and would be responded to with strength, including coordinated sanctions with our allies to impose heavy costs on Russia’s interests and economy,” Liz Truss said in a statement Thursday.

She added that the “only way out of the current situation” for Russia was through dialogue and welcomed the indications from Moscow that it was ready to hold talks with the US in Geneva early next year.

The Kremlin has rejected proposals from Kiev and its Western allies, including the US and Britain, to invade Ukraine after mobilizing tens of thousands of troops near the common border in the second such mass deployment this year.

Instead, it says the security situation in the region has been undermined by the expansion of the US-led transatlantic security alliance and Ukraine’s growing ties with the body – developments Moscow claims threaten Russia and violate promises made it occurred with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Moscow has security requirements

Last week Moscow made extensive security demands on the West, calling on NATO to refuse membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet states and to withdraw military operations in Central and Eastern Europe.

Many of Russia’s proposals that would require the withdrawal of the US and allied forces from central and eastern European countries that joined NATO after 1997 are viewed as non-starters in the West.

However, Washington and NATO have announced that they will discuss the package with Russia early next year, as they are aware that outright rejection could further fuel the Ukraine crisis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow “does not want war” with its neighbor, but needs an “immediate” response from the US and its allies to its demands for security guarantees.

“This is not our choice, we don’t want this,” he told reporters at his annual marathon press conference when asked about the possibility of conflict.

Putin said Russia had received a generally positive initial response to the proposals it made to the US and was hopeful about the prospect of negotiations.

NATO “tricked” Russia, says Putin

But in separate remarks, Putin got even more heated when he recalled how NATO had “shamelessly outwitted” Russia with successive waves of expansion since the Cold War, saying Moscow urgently needed a response to its demands.

“We have just asked the direct question that there should be no further NATO movement to the east. The ball is up to them, they should answer us something, ”he said.

The US, the European Union and the countries of the Group of Seven (G7) have all warned Putin that in the event of new Russian aggression against Ukraine he will face “massive consequences” including harsh economic sanctions.

Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and shortly afterwards supported a separatist rebellion in the east of the country, which plunged relations between Moscow and the west to post-Cold War lows.

According to Kiev, more than 14,000 people have died in the fighting in the industrial heartland of Ukraine, the Donbass.

Putin on Thursday accused the Ukrainian government of violating its obligations under a 2015 agreement to end the conflict and refused to speak to representatives of two breakaway regions there. His Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Selenskyj was influenced by “radical nationalist forces”.

For his part, Zelenskyi said he was ready to speak to Russia “in any format”. The Kremlin has so far rejected such discussions and has repeatedly stated that it sees no point in a meeting without clarity about the agenda.

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