Ukraine .. Moscow rules out a war and is concerned about the possibility of Kiev resorting to force, and Washington warns of the consequences of its aggressive actions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday ruled out the outbreak of war with Ukraine in light of the growing fears of an escalation of the conflict with the sending of Russian military build-up days ago to the Ukrainian border.

Peskov said in an interview broadcast by the public network "Russia 1" in the evening, but that it published excerpts from it, "Of course, no one takes the path of war, and no one accepts the possibility of such a war."

He expressed Moscow's concern about the possibility of the Ukrainian authorities using force to settle the situation in the southeast of the country.

He added, "Near us is a country that is about to fall into civil war, and near us is a state. We do not rule out that its leadership bets once again on the possibility of resolving its internal problems by using force. Does this pose a threat to us? Of course it is a danger. Should we take measures to ensure our security? This is what we do. "

But he stressed that no one also "accepts the possibility of a civil war in Ukraine," noting that Russia will not remain indifferent to the fate of Russian speakers residing in southeastern Ukraine, where a war has been going on since 2014 between Kiev forces and the pro-Russian separatists.

An American warning

For his part, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the Russian military build-up, on the border with Ukraine, is the largest since 2014.

In an interview with the US television network, NBC, Blinken warned Moscow against undertaking what he called hostile acts, noting that President Joe Biden was clear about the areas in which US-Russian interests coincide or overlap.

"We have an interest in working together, for example on arms control, as we did in extending the START agreement," he added. "So the question is whether Russia will continue to act aggressively and recklessly? If it does, it will have consequences, as the president has made clear."

The outcome of the battles

Moscow considers that the conflict, which has killed more than 13 thousand people since its outbreak, is a Ukrainian civil war, and Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of providing clear and documented military, political and financial support to the separatists.

Kiev and several Western capitals have criticized Moscow in recent days for mobilizing forces on the Ukrainian border and in the Crimea peninsula, which Russia annexed, at a time of almost daily bloody clashes with the separatists.

Ukraine warns that the Kremlin may look for an excuse to launch a large-scale military operation.

The Kremlin did not deny the deployment of reinforcements, but confirms that it does not threaten any party, accusing Kiev in return for carrying out "provocations" aimed at "escalating the situation on the front."

Peskov said in the interview, "Russia is making every effort to help settle this dispute. We will continue to do so without stopping."

After the fighting almost completely stopped since the summer 2020 armistice was reached, the clashes have renewed in intensity in recent weeks and resulted in the killing of 26 Ukrainian soldiers since the beginning of the year, compared to the killing of 50 soldiers throughout the year 2020.

The resumption of fighting and the mobilization of Russian forces prompted Kiev to intensify its contacts with Western capitals, while Washington, Berlin and Paris confirmed their support for Ukraine and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "reduce" the Russian deployment on the Ukrainian borders.