U.S., Britain warn Russia against any new Ukraine aggression
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[November 30, 2021]
By Humeyra Pamuk and Sabine Siebold
RIGA (Reuters) - The United States and
Britain warned Russia on Tuesday over any new military aggression
against Ukraine as the Western military alliance NATO met to discuss
Moscow's intentions for massing troops on the border with the former
Soviet republic.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to brief his 29 NATO
counterparts on Washington's intelligence on the group's eastern flank
and in Ukraine, which is not a member.
Kyiv's aspirations for integration with the West trigerred a major
stand-off with Moscow earlier this century.
The Kremlin went on to annex the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from
Ukraine in 2014 and then backed rebels fighting government troops in the
east of the country. That conflict killed 14,000 people, according to
Kyiv, and is still simmering.
At a news conference before the NATO meeting, Blinken expressed alarm at
the "unusual" Russian troop movements and "increasingly belligerent
rheteoric" from Moscow.
"Any escalatory actions by Russia would be a great concern to the United
States... and any renewed aggression would trigger serious
consequences," he said.
"We will be consulting closely with NATO allies and partners in the days
ahead... about whether there are other steps that we should take as an
alliance to strengthen our defences, strengthen our resilience,
strengthen our capacity."
Two Russian troop build-ups this year on Ukraine's borders have alarmed
the West. In May, Russian troops there numbered 100,000, the largest
since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Western officials say.
Moscow has dismissed as inflammatory Ukraine's suggestions that it is
preparing for an attack, said it does not threaten anyone and defended
its right to deploy troops on its own territory as it wishes.
'RUSSIA'S MALIGN ACTIVITY'
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said ahead of the talks that
Russia's intentions were unclear.
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U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken and Latvian President Egils
Levits pose for media in Riga, Latvia November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Ints
Kalnins/Pool
"We see heavy capabilities, we see armoured units,
drones, electronic warfare systems and we see tens of thousands
combat-ready Russian troops," he added.
NATO members Britain and Germany echoed Blinken's warning.
"We will stand with our fellow democracies against Russia's malign
activity," said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. "Any action by
Russia to undermine the freedom and democracy that our partners
enjoy would be a strategic mistake."
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said: "NATO's support for Ukraine
is unbroken... Russia would have to pay a high price for any sort of
aggression."
Adding to Western concerns, Belarus on Monday announced joint
military drills with Russia on its border with Ukraine. While also a
former Soviet republic, Minsk - unlike Kyiv - is a close ally of
Moscow.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, whom the West accuses of
seeking to divide the European Union by sending Middle Eastern
migrants to the border of NATO members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania,
warned Minsk would not sit on the sidelines in case of war.
"It is clear whose side Belarus will be on," he said, referring to
Moscow, whose financial and political backing helped him weather
mass public protests in August 2020.
(Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Nick
Macfie)
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