In the Donbass, there is an increase in provocative activities of the Ukrainian armed forces, said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.

“There is a situation of non-fulfillment of the Minsk agreements in Donbass.

And in Donbass, a situation is taking place associated with an increase in the activity of provocative actions by the armed forces of Ukraine.

That is, provocations happen, there is some kind of return fire to these provocations, "he said in the Moscow.

Kremlin.

Putin "on the TV channel" Russia 1 ".

Peskov does not exclude that such a policy of Kiev may sooner or later lead to an intensification of the civil war in Ukraine.

“Since in general there is no tension, de-escalation, the tension is very high, then such provocations, they can instantly ignite the fire of this very civil war within the Ukrainian conflict.

Therefore, we are all constantly talking about our concern, "- said the press secretary of Vladimir Putin.

At the same time, he noted that, although the Russian Federation is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict, it will nevertheless not leave the residents of Donbass in trouble.

“Russia has never been a party to this conflict.

But Russia has always said that it will not remain indifferent to the fate of Russian speakers who live in the southeast of the country, ”Peskov recalled.

He also clarified that at present, contacts continue at the level of political advisers in the Normandy format.

“The work is carried out on the line of political advisers is very intense.

The political advisers of the Quartet are in constant contact.

This is a very difficult contact and requires a lot of patience from all four parties.

But nevertheless it is being conducted.

And it is being conducted precisely in the interests of preparing and holding such a summit meeting, ”Peskov said.

According to him, Moscow will insist that at least some previous agreements must be fulfilled in order to hold a new summit of the Quartet.

In addition, Peskov admitted that the Russian Federation has certain disagreements over the Donbass with France and the Federal Republic of Germany, which are also part of the Normandy Four.

At the same time, both Paris and Berlin agree with Moscow that there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements, the press secretary of the Russian president stressed.

"Russia does not threaten anyone"

Meanwhile, the West continues to express concern over the movement of Russian Armed Forces units across Russia.

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in an interview with NBC that Washington is seriously concerned about the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

The politician added that the United States maintains "very close contacts and coordination" on this issue with its European partners. 

At the same time, Blinken threatened Russia with "consequences" for the allegedly possible aggression on its part. 

"President Biden was very clear on this issue - if Russia acts recklessly or aggressively, there will be" costs ", there will be consequences," the American statesman said.

Earlier, Washington asked Moscow to explain the "provocations" on its part.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US viewed Russia's actions on the border as an escalation.

The movements of the Russian military through the territory of the Russian Federation are also actively monitored in Berlin.

So, according to German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Moscow could comment on the maneuvers near the border with Ukraine.

“If Russia has nothing to hide, it would not be difficult for it to explain which troops are moving, where and for what purpose,” she wrote on Twitter.

  • Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer

  • Reuters

  • © Annegret Hilse

Another German politician, head of the European People's Party (the leading faction in the European Parliament. -

RT

) Manfred Weber, in an interview with the Funke media group, spoke in favor of toughening European and American sanctions against Russia in the event of an escalation of the situation in southeastern Ukraine.

According to Weber, the Russian Federation is allegedly engaged in "dangerous provocations."

He said that "the strengthening of the Russian military presence" on the border with Ukraine is "a test of the West."

In this regard, the politician urged to resort to tough sanctions in the event of an escalation.

Among the possible measures he named disconnecting Russia from SWIFT and freezing the accounts of Russian "oligarchs".

In addition, Weber said that in the event of an escalation, the future fate of Nord Stream 2 will also be in question.

As noted by the media with a reference to the message of the German government, German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation called on Russian President Vladimir Putin "to curtail military reinforcement near the borders with Ukraine."

However, as Dmitry Peskov explained, Merkel only expressed concern about this, and did not demand to fold.

“And how we move, where we move troops within our own territory is our own business, our internal business.

And this should not cause any concern to anyone, ”Peskov emphasized.

In parallel with this, the topic of a possible military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation is actively discussed in the Western media.

Similar sentiments reign in the Ukrainian media, as well as in the political circles of the republic.

Thus, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran said that Russia is allegedly trying to demonstrate its readiness to use "armed force" against Ukraine, which, according to him, it considers as an instrument to achieve its strategic goals.

“The strategic goal of the Russian Federation in relation to Ukraine remains its return under its control and disruption of our Euro-Atlantic path of development,” the minister says.

  • Defense Minister of Ukraine Andriy Taran

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Pavlo_bagmut / Keystone Press Agency

It should be noted that Moscow does not hide the fact that in April there was indeed a redeployment of troops on the territory of the country as part of the planned exercises that are taking place in all military districts.

At the same time, Dmitry Peskov previously stressed that the Russian Federation does not threaten anyone and the movement of its troops on its own territory is an internal affair of Russia.

“I repeat what I have already said more than once: Russia has not threatened and does not threaten anyone and does not pose a threat to anyone.

The Russian armed forces are located there, on the territory of Russia, where it is recognized as necessary and expedient, ”he said.

A similar statement was made at a briefing on April 9 and the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

From her point of view, Paris and Berlin should “focus not on tracking the movement of Russian troops on Russian territory,” but on Kiev's failure to fulfill its obligations.

"Under the thumb of Russia"

According to experts, speaking about the allegedly aggressive steps of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Western countries deliberately ignore the actions of Kiev, which, in fact, led to a serious aggravation of the situation in Donbass.

In recent weeks, having violated the terms of the ceasefire, Ukraine began to pull troops and armored vehicles to the contact line and sharply increased the number of attacks on the positions of the people's militias of the unrecognized DPR and LPR, as well as civilian objects of the unrecognized republics.

At the same time, the work of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on resolving the conflict in Donbass was actually blocked due to the non-constructive position of Kiev.

For example, in early April, the head of the Kiev delegation to the TCG Leonid Kravchuk suddenly proposed to transfer negotiations from Belarus to another country, because Minsk is allegedly not a neutral party and is "under the thumb of Russia."

He was also supported by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the "temporarily occupied territories" of Ukraine Aleksey Reznikov, saying that Kiev would not send members of its delegation to Minsk.

At the same time, the Minsk agreements in Ukraine are devaluing more and more regularly.

Dmitry Peskov also recalled this.

“When we more and more often and at various levels hear statements from Kiev that the Minsk complex of measures is already an almost useless rudiment, then this probably causes bewilderment not only among us, but also in Paris, and in Berlin, "- said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.

Kiev's actions to escalate tensions have already caused an increase in the number of victims among the civilian population of Donbass.

A special resonance was caused by the death of a five-year-old child, which occurred, according to the DPR People's Militia Department, from the explosion of a bomb dropped from a Ukrainian drone.

The head of the DPR Denis Pushilin in an interview with the TV channel "Russia 1" said that this tragic incident was qualified by the investigating authorities as a terrorist act.

"The Russian leadership is sovereign"

According to analysts, the "concern" of Western politicians about the movement of units of the RF Armed Forces on their own territory looks strange and is a manifestation of hypocrisy, since Moscow does not violate any laws.

“Russia is deploying troops as part of the planned exercises.

In addition, the Russian leadership is sovereign and can move troops on its territory in the direction it sees fit.

In this matter, not a single foreign power has the right to dictate to Russia what it should do on its territory, "said Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT.

As Konstantin Blokhin noted, the purpose of such rhetoric of Western states is the desire to present Russia as an aggressor.

“The United States is trying to consolidate the West on an anti-Russian basis on a global scale in order to legitimize a new Cold War.

A situation like the Skripals is not suitable for this purpose.

A more weighty argument from the point of view of geopolitics can only be the alleged presence of Russia in the territory of Donbass, ”says Blokhin.

“In fact, Zelensky, by transferring Ukrainian troops to the contact line, is currying favor with his American curators in order to receive more financial tranches and military-political assistance.

In addition, they clearly intend to blame the Russian Federation for all the current problems of Ukraine, ”the expert added.

At the same time, he called Kiev's policy extremely short-sighted, because if he brings matters to a real exacerbation in Donbass, the West is unlikely to directly intervene in the situation.

“Neither Biden nor Blinken are going to fight for Ukraine.

If Zelensky decides to start a war, he may fall into the same trap that Saakashvili fell into in 2008, counting on the help of the West, "Blokhin explained.