MOSCOW – The Kremlin said on Friday it feared a resumption of large-scale fighting in eastern Ukraine and could take steps to protect Russian civilians there, a strong warning that comes amid an accumulation of Russian troops in the along the border.
The statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov reflected the Kremlin’s determination to prevent Ukraine from using force to try to regain control of separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s military chief has rejected Russian claims that the country’s armed forces are preparing for an attack on the rebel east.
Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula in 2014. More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict and efforts to negotiate a political agreement have stalled.
Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of sending troops and weapons to help the separatists, accusations that Moscow has denied. The White House says Russia now has more troops on the border with Ukraine than at any time since 2014.
Russia also claimed that it had to protect Russian speakers in Crimea when it sent troops to the Black Sea peninsula and annexed it in March 2014 after a hasty public vote.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday after visiting troops in the east that 26 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed so far this year. Increasingly frequent breaches of a July truce agreement mean that “we are once again facing the need to establish a ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said.
Donetsk separatist authorities said 20 soldiers and 2 civilians had been killed this year.
Western and Ukrainian officials have expressed concerns in recent weeks about increasingly frequent ceasefire violations in the country’s industrial center. They also expressed concern about the accumulation of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine.
Concerns seemed to intensify on Friday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his French and German counterparts on the issue. The State Department said Blinken, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian discussed the need for Russia to cease its military accumulation and its heated rhetoric.
During a call with Putin on Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel “called for the removal of these reinforcements from the troops to achieve a de-escalation of the situation.”
Peskov said Russia is free to deploy its troops wherever it wants on its territory. He accused the Ukrainian military of “escalating provocative actions” along the line of control in the east that threatens Russia’s security.
“The Kremlin fears that a civil war may break out in Ukraine. And if a civil war is resumed near our borders, a large-scale military action that would endanger the security of the Russian Federation, ”said Peskov. “Continuous escalation of tensions is unprecedented.”
In Kiev, Colonel-Gen. Ruslan Khomchak, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, rejected Moscow’s claims about Ukraine’s alleged preparations for an offensive in the east as part of a “disinformation campaign” and a ” hybrid war “.
Meanwhile, the Russian military said its scouts have been training for missions behind enemy lines during recent drills in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine. And in the Black Sea, Russian naval missile ships have practiced enemy ships on strike.
Dmitry Kozak, a Putin aide who is acting as Russia’s top negotiator with Kiev, warned Ukraine on Thursday not to use force to regain control of the east, where many residents hold Russian citizenship. This measure will mark “the beginning of an end for Ukraine,” he said, adding that Russia would probably act to protect its citizens.
Asked about Kozak’s comment, Peskov alleged that virulent nationalist rhetoric in Ukraine was igniting hatred against the mostly Russian-speaking population of the East. He stated that if civilians in eastern Ukraine faced the threat of a massacre, “all countries, including Russia, will take steps to prevent these tragedies.”
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said on Friday that the United States had notified Turkey that two U.S. warships would sail to the Black Sea on April 14 and 15 and would stay there until 4 and on May 5th. rules.
These visits by the US and other NATO ships have upset Moscow, which has long endeavored Ukraine’s efforts to establish defense ties with the West and its aspirations to eventually join the NATO.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Friday that Ukraine’s NATO bid “would not only lead to a massive escalation of the situation in the southeast, but could also have consequences.” irreversible for the Ukrainian state. “
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This story corrects that Russia said in 2014 that it should protect Russian speakers in Crimea, not Russian civilians.
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Suzan Fraser in Ankara (Turkey) and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.