The United States and the North Atlantic Alliance are deploying troops to the borders of the European part of Russia.

This was stated by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu.

“There is a movement of troops in Europe to the Russian borders.

The main forces are concentrated in the Black Sea and the Baltic region, ”Shoigu said at a meeting in Severomorsk on April 13.

According to him, a total of 40 thousand servicemen and 15 thousand units of weapons and military equipment, including strategic aviation, will be concentrated near the territory of the Russian Federation.

The head of the Russian Defense Ministry also noted that, compared to last year, the United States has increased the intensity of aerial and naval reconnaissance.

"In Poland and the Baltic countries, the US forces are strengthening, the American" four to thirty "concept has been adopted and is being implemented, the intensity of aerial reconnaissance has doubled compared to last year and the naval reconnaissance has been increased by half," he said.

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters that the United States is taking an extremely provocative step by sending its warships to the Black Sea.

He called such actions an attempt to play on Russia's nerves.

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the United States was taking an extremely provocative step by sending its warships to the Black Sea.

He called such actions an attempt to play on Russia's nerves.

“American warships near our shores have absolutely nothing to do.

These are purely provocative measures that they carry out, provocative in the truest sense of the word.

They test us for strength, play on our nerves.

They won't succeed, ”Ryabkov stressed.

According to him, the maneuvers of the United States fleet thousands of kilometers from the base points are always tools of geopolitics.

“The United States, apparently, feeling itself the ruler of the seas inside, in this regard inheriting Great Britain from another era, should nevertheless understand that the risks of certain incidents are very high,” Ryabkova quoted TASS as saying.

Ryabkov also stressed that Washington should "stay away from Crimea" and from the Black Sea coast of Russia.

“It will be for their own good,” he said.

The day before, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that the passage of US ships into the Black Sea is accompanied by aggressive rhetoric.

According to him, "questions are being asked about what the Russian Federation is doing on the border with Ukraine."

“The answer is very simple: we live there, this is our country.

But what the United States is doing in the form of its ships, military personnel, who constantly organize some kind of events through NATO in Ukraine, thousands of kilometers from their own territory - this question remains unanswered, "Lavrov said after talks with the Egyptian colleague Sameh Shukri.

Ukrainian factor

We will remind, last week, CNN, citing a Pentagon spokesman, reported that the United States is considering the possibility of sending warships to the Black Sea in the next few weeks "as a sign of support for Ukraine against the backdrop of the strengthening of Russia's military presence at the country's eastern border."

According to a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, the US Navy regularly conducts its activities in the Black Sea, but the deployment of warships at the moment will be a "clear signal" for Moscow that the United States is closely monitoring Russia's actions.

Earlier, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti that Washington had notified Ankara about the passage of its two warships through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea, where they would be stationed from April 14-15 to May 4-5.

These messages came against the backdrop of accusations by Washington against Moscow, in particular, of the movement of Russian troops.

“The United States is increasingly concerned about the recent rise in Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, including the movement of Russian troops to the Ukrainian border.

There are now more Russian troops on the Russian-Ukrainian border than at any time since 2014, ”White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on April 8 during a briefing.

The Kremlin, however, said that the movement of Russian troops through Russian territory does not pose a threat to other countries.

According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the Russian side is making efforts to ensure its security.

“Next to us is a country where civil war is about to resume.

Next to us is a country in which we do not exclude that the leadership will again consider it possible to solve the internal problem by force.

Is it dangerous for us?

Of course it's dangerous.

Should we take steps to ensure our safety?

Should.

This is what we are doing, ”Peskov emphasized in an interview with the host of the Moskva.Kreml.Putin program on the Russia 1 TV channel.

He also noted that Washington's assessments are often subjective and contrary to the "real state of affairs."

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on the air of NBC News that the American side is concerned about the actions of the Russian Federation on the border with Ukraine.

According to him, if Russia "continues to behave aggressively and thoughtlessly," then she "will have to pay for it."

As noted by Blinken, the head of the White House Joe Biden "made it clear" that Moscow "will face the consequences."

Sergei Ryabkov reacted to this statement by the American Secretary of State.

He stressed that Moscow will continue to defend the interests of the Russian-speaking population of Donbass and does not believe that “such terminology“ price ”and“ retribution ”is applicable.

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Konstantin Kokoshkin

“We are just defending our interests, the interests of our citizens, the Russian-speaking population.

We will continue to protect them, ”he said.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with CNN that Biden "needs to do more" to contain Russia and help resolve this conflict.

He explained that Kiev needs more weapons, financial resources for the conduct of hostilities and support for Ukraine's entry into the North Atlantic Alliance.

"If they (USA -

RT

) see Ukraine in NATO, then let them declare this directly and back them up with deeds, not words," Zelensky said.

As the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on April 9, “a hypothetical membership in the alliance, contrary to Kiev's expectations, will not only not bring peace to Ukraine, but, on the contrary, will lead to a large-scale escalation of the situation in the southeast”.

According to her, the situation in Donbass "remains difficult and tends to aggravate."

“The reason for this is the warlike attitude of Kiev, which still lives with illusions about the possibility of a military solution to the conflict in the southeast of the country.

Troops and equipment are being drawn there.

The mobilization plans for recruiting reservists are being updated, ”Zakharova said.

"Behaves hypocritically"

As noted by Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, reports of US intentions to send their ships to the Black Sea once again prove that the American side is not ready to abandon "rather crude political provocations."

“Everyone knows the special status of the Black Sea, in its basin, as a rule, there are military ships of the countries of the Black Sea region, to which the United States has nothing to do.

In addition, the situation due to such a step by Washington may worsen even more, since there is a period of an acute phase of the crisis around Donbass and constant saber-rattling from Ukraine, "the expert said in a conversation with RT.

Shapovalov stressed that if Russia seeks to normalize the situation in the southeast of Ukraine, then the US actions are aimed at "stimulating the military preparations of the Ukrainian authorities."

"The measures of the United States are not really aimed at supporting Kiev, as US high-ranking diplomats claim, but at pushing Ukraine into more violent military actions in the Donbass," the analyst believes.

As for the accusations by Washington and Kiev against Moscow regarding the movement of Russian troops, against the background of reports of plans to send American ships to the Black Sea and the transfer of NATO troops to the borders of the European part of Russia, "they look extremely unconvincing," Shapovalov said.

“The Russian armed forces are on the territory of the Russian Federation, do not leave its borders.

And the American Armed Forces are located a hundred thousand kilometers from the American borders.

Washington is behaving hypocritically once again, ”the analyst said.  

Valery Garbuzov, Director of the Institute for the United States and Canada, drew attention to the fact that it is the United States that provides material and military support to Kiev, which the Ukrainian side then uses to aggravate the situation in Donbass.

“Washington not only supports the actions of the Ukrainian authorities, but also supports them financially and with weapons.

The American side will continue to provide such assistance to Ukraine, perhaps even start to put together a pro-Ukrainian coalition.

However, the White House will not directly intervene in the internal Ukrainian conflict, "Garbuzov said in an interview with RT.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • Reuters

  • © Ukrainian Presidential Press Service

As Shapovalov added, if the Ukrainian government "decides on a serious military operation in Donbass, then the United States, as always, will remain on the sidelines."

A similar position is shared by the American political scientist Malek Dudakov.

As he stated in a commentary to RT, Ukraine is "not the most relevant topic on Biden's agenda."

“He is more worried about the internal political processes in the United States, as well as the problems associated with the migration crisis in the United States.

The situation in Ukraine rather distracts his attention from solving more important problems, so he reacts to what is happening within the framework of the rhetoric familiar to democrats, ”he concluded.