Ukraine called for speeding up its accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to send a signal to Russia in response to its military moves near the common borders, while Moscow warned that such a move would exacerbate the conflict (eastern Ukraine).

In a tweet addressed to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, today, Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on "NATO" to ratify the action plan for his country's accession to the organization, with the aim of directing a "real signal" to Russia, as he put it.

Zelensky said that NATO is the only way to end the war in the Donbas region (eastern Ukraine), parts of which have been controlled by pro-Russian separatists for years.

For his part, Stoltenberg, in a phone call with Zelensky, expressed his deep concern about Russian military activities in Ukraine, and the ongoing violations of the ceasefire.

The Secretary-General of NATO affirmed the Atlantic Organization's strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

A few days ago, Kiev announced that it would hold maneuvers with the alliance within its territory within a few months.

Pro-Russian separatist militants in the Donbas region, eastern Ukraine (Anadolu Agency)

Russian warning

On the other hand, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidency (the Kremlin), considered today that Ukraine's accession to NATO will exacerbate its internal problems, in reference to the ongoing conflict since 2014 between government forces and separatists in the Donbas region, which is located near the borders of Russia, and includes Majority of Russian speakers.

Peskov added that the Donbas residents' point of view must be taken into account.

In response to a question about measures that Russia may take to protect its citizens in Donbas, the Russian spokesman said that the security and safety of Russian citizens there is an absolute priority for the state and the Russian president.

In the context, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed, today, Moscow's disappointment with the Western world's support for Kiev with regard to the situation in the Donbas region.

Lavrov said during a press conference in New Delhi with his Indian counterpart, Subramaniyam Jaishankar, that France and Germany should work to control Ukraine, describing the statements of Ukrainian officials about the situation in Donbas as worrying, accusing Kiev of violating the Minsk agreements and threatening military action.

Yesterday, Washington expressed its concern about what it described as the Russian attacks (eastern Ukraine), and asked Moscow for clarifications about what it called Russian provocations on the border with Ukraine, while Russian officials said that the troop movements did not pose a threat to the Western neighbor.

Reciprocal accusations of escalation

In the context of the escalating tension for weeks in the Donbas region - which includes the separatist cities of Donetsk and Lugansk - the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced the killing of two soldiers, on Monday, in gunfire from pro-Russian militants.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense confirmed its adherence to the ceasefire agreement, and accused the separatists of establishing new military fortifications along the front line, stressing that its forces remain on alert.

In return, the separatists announced that the Ukrainian army had bombed their positions in Donbas.

Representatives of the so-called "Lugansk People's Republic" said that the Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire 6 times, and that the size of the human and material losses due to the bombing was being verified.

This comes amid mutual accusations between Kiev and the separatists of military escalation in the Donbas region, and Ukraine recently accused the Russian army of bombing its forces stationed in the contact lines (east of the country).

The conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and has since killed about 14,000 people. In the same year, Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, and Moscow faced Western accusations of providing direct military support to the separatists.