Russia is allegedly trying to establish a land corridor from the Donbass to the Crimea through the upcoming seizure of Mariupol and Berdyansk. With such a statement in an interview with the German media group Funke, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko spoke.

The Ukrainian leader also warned the West: according to him, if Western politicians do not stop "flirting and dancing" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the scale of "Russian aggression" will allegedly increase.

“In fact, it is in Ukraine that the future of the free world is now being decided. Unlike Russian provocative behavior and incitement to even more dramatic events, Ukraine has always advocated political and diplomatic means of resolving the conflict, ”Poroshenko said.

Commenting on the incident in the Kerch Strait, the Ukrainian president said that the Russian side refused to meet legal requirements and chose to escalate. In addition, he called on Germany and other allies to increase their naval presence in the Black Sea in order to "contain Russia".

On the eve of Poroshenko during the transfer of repaired airplanes and helicopters to the Ukrainian military, he said that Russia allegedly deployed a significant number of combat units on the border with Ukraine. He claimed that a ground group with a total number of more than 80 thousand troops, about 1.4 thousand artillery systems and rocket launchers, 900 tanks, 2.3 thousand armored combat vehicles, more than 500 aircraft and 300 helicopters was deployed. Meanwhile, the facts confirming this information, the President of Ukraine did not lead.

At the same time, former German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel stated that Kiev was trying to draw Germany into the confrontation with Moscow, and urged that this not be allowed to happen.

“I believe that in no case should we allow Ukraine to draw us into the war. Ukraine tried to do this, ”said Gabriel.

At the same time, the ex-diplomat also accused Russia, which detained three vessels of the Ukrainian Navy in its territorial waters, of “violating international law”.

At a press conference following the G20 summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the “planned provocation” an incident that occurred on November 25 in the Kerch Strait, when three Ukrainian warships with 24 sailors were detained by Russian border guards for invading territorial waters of the Russian Federation.

Putin said that the Russian side presented to foreign leaders not only the position of Moscow, but also the chronology of events. As the head of state noted, it is difficult to object to such facts.

“Yes, and what objections can be made when the ship’s log says that the ships were given the task of secretly penetrating our territorial waters and secretly passing the Kerch Strait. This is a planned provocation - this is seen from the documents and testimony of the seamen themselves, ”he added.

The Russian president added that the “war party” in power in Kiev is trying to hide behind its military rhetoric its own failures in economic and social policy, blaming everything on some kind of “external aggressor”.

"A coil of hysteria from Poroshenko"

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense and Security Yuri Shvytkin told RT that Poroshenko is acting foolishly. He stressed that the Russian Federation does not show aggression against Ukraine or other countries.

“If we evaluate soberly, this is another round of hysteria on the part of the president of Ukraine. He no longer knows which words to choose in order to express imaginary aggression on the part of our state. This stupidity is real. We have never attacked anyone, and never harbored such intentions, ”said the deputy.

State Duma Deputy Ruslan Balbek also criticized the statement of the President of Ukraine.

“To capture London, Paris and Zhmerinka is the real session of the imagination of the Ukrainian president. It does not matter that the Ukrainian ships were detained in Russian waters, and it doesn’t matter that not Russia, but Ukraine constantly provokes a conflict in the Sea of ​​Azov. For the Ukrainian president, today the whole world revolves around Berdyansk, to which no one has done something that did not encroach, but didn’t even pass what they say, ”he said.

In a statement Poroshenko is not surprising - he is trying to explain the introduction of martial law. This was stated by political scientist, head of the department of political science and sociology Plekhanov Russian University of Economics Andrei Koshkin. At the same time, in his opinion, it is obvious that the President of Ukraine is trying to score points on the eve of the presidential election, which may also be postponed.

“Poroshenko has no chances to win at the moment. Everywhere he talks about the inevitable Russian attack on Ukraine. And naturally now it is necessary to differentiate this "attack". Now two objects have surfaced - Berdyansk and Mariupol. Naturally, this idea will be savored in the near future. Petro Poroshenko is confused, is at an impasse, in despair and is trying to justify his position in such ways, ”Koshkin said in an interview with RT.

In turn, the president of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting Rostislav Ischenko noted that the Ukrainian leader is inventing new wordings to further substantiate the cancellation of the presidential election.

“Poroshenko needs to cancel the election. For this he needs a war with Russia, which seems to be there, but it seems not. But he needs an argument. And he invents the argument on the go. The defense of Berdyansk and Mariupol is probably worth the cancellation of the elections. Another thing is that they will not believe him in Ukraine. He will invent something further, ”the expert emphasized in an interview with RT.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that martial law in Ukraine was introduced in those regions of the country in which Poroshenko is not popular. At the same time, in these subjects, with such a special legal regime, civil rights and freedoms, political activities are restricted.

“This means that the current leadership of Ukraine has divided the country into a reliable and not very good one,” Putin explained.

Estonian concern

The anti-Russian stance of Kiev finds support in the Baltic countries. Thus, in mid-November, the Baltic Council of Ministers and the Baltic Assembly, which is responsible for coordinating the actions of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian parliaments, called on the governments of the three countries to strengthen military cooperation and respond to the alleged "aggression" of Russia.

On Sunday, December 2, on the website of the American edition of The Washington Examiner, there was an interview with the Estonian Ministry of Defense Chancellor Kristjan Prikkom, who is responsible for the issues of the strategic goals of the state defense, organizational development and planning, and coordination of the activities of departmental agencies.

Prikk expressed concern that the Russian side allegedly might try to seize the port city of Mariupol using ordinary military or hybrid means. In addition, he called on the West to lend great support to Kiev in "containing Russia", although the Ukrainian military are no longer an "easy target."

“I am sure that among the goals of Russia are good relations with Ukraine, NATO and (the European Union. - RT ). Moscow understands that by committing some obvious nastiness or stupidity, they will provide themselves with new sanctions, and Ukraine with more focused and active support in overcoming this crisis, ”Prikk believes.

At the same time, earlier, Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser said it was necessary to impose additional sanctions on Russia for allegedly “attacking” Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait.

Estonia supports Ukraine in order to show its loyalty to the United States in terms of financial and other types of assistance, said Andrei Koshkin, a political scientist and head of the department of political science and sociology at the PRUE named after Plekhanov.

“Moreover, information projects are being promoted in the Baltic countries that the Russian states are supposed to seize the Baltic states not today or tomorrow. Spreading the idea with Ukraine, they indirectly support their idea of ​​the possibility of Russia seizing the territory of Estonia, ”the expert emphasized.

As the president of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting, Rostislav Ishchenko, added, the Baltic countries always express support for Kiev in anti-Russian speeches, since the Russophobic course of Ukraine is in line with the Baltic policy.

“In addition, the Baltic States have always squealed about the fact that they are trying to capture it, it is necessary to deploy American troops there. Here is the argument about the aggressiveness of Russia, which plans to seize Berdyansk and Mariupol. Why would she not seize Tallinn and Riga after that? ”The analyst noted.