[Global Times reporter Lin Ri Aoki Yanao] "Now only a little spark is needed to ignite the situation in Ukraine's border area." European Union Foreign and Security Policy Senior Representative Borelli warned at a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Committee on the 19th local time. , The situation in the region is in danger of further escalation.
According to the EU's disclosure, Russia currently has more than 100,000 troops deployed in the Russian-Ukrainian border area, an unprecedented scale.
On the same day, a US Pentagon spokesperson stated that the number of Russian troops deployed in the Crimea region has steadily increased in the past two weeks, exceeding the scale of 2014.
However, the US declined to provide specific figures on the increase in Russian troops.
The US State Department confirmed on the 19th that the US ambassador to Russia, Sullivan, who was previously "suggested" by the Russian side to return to China to discuss Russia-US relations, is determined to return to Washington this week to meet with Biden administration officials.
In response to the request of the United States and Europe to urge Russia to withdraw its troops from the Russian-Ukrainian border, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov said on the 20th that there has been a certain degree of tension between Moscow and many countries, but Russia is not the initiator.
Western countries should get rid of collective anti-Russian psychology and conduct constructive dialogues to resolve existing differences.
According to “Russia Today” TV station on the 20th, although Borelli expressed “extreme concern” about the situation in Ukraine’s border areas at the video conference of the foreign ministers of EU member states, he also admitted that the EU currently has no room to impose new sanctions on Russia.
German Foreign Minister Maas reiterated at the meeting that “we will continue to work with France in the'Normandy model' and fully implement the Minsk Agreement.” However, Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine will be held on the 19th in a video format. The talks to discuss the implementation of the Minsk agreement ended in vain and failed to reach an agreement on measures to downgrade the situation in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian "Kommersant" stated on the 20th that the Russian side's specific suggestions on the system to prevent the escalation of the exchange of fire and the accountability of the party at fault were hindered by the Uzbek side.
The French and German representatives did not propose a specific solution, but only proposed to issue an untargeted declaration-style political statement on adhering to the ceasefire system.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said on the 20th that the number of Russian soldiers assembled at the Ukrainian border will soon reach 120,000, and he called on Western countries to impose a new round of economic sanctions on Russia.
A Pentagon spokesperson was worried about Russia’s deployment of a large number of troops along the border with Ukraine on the 19th and called on Russia to clearly state its intentions.
A U.S. Department of Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly told National Broadcasting Corporation that tens of thousands of Russian soldiers had assembled in Crimea and other border areas with Ukraine. The assembled troops included tanks, artillery and aircraft.
A spokesman for Ukrainian President Zelensky said last week that there are currently about 80,000 Russian soldiers stationed on the border between Ukraine and Russia, of which 40,000 are stationed in Crimea.
In this regard, Yelmakoff, an expert at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, said that the movement of troops on its own territory is a sovereign matter of any country.
The current demands made by the West for the mobilization of Russian troops are illegal.
Blohin, an expert at the Security Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also said that given the scale of NATO's military exercises near the Russian border, from a defensive point of view, the redeployment of the Russian army is entirely for self-defense.
On the 20th, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protested against the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declaring a Russian Embassy Counselor as an unpopular person for engaging in activities inconsistent with his status the day before.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Uzbek side is trying to use the above-mentioned measures as a reciprocal measure against Russia’s declaring a consulate of Uzbekistan in St. Petersburg as an unpopular person, and Russia will reserve the right to take countermeasures.
In addition, after expelling many diplomats with Russia, Acting Czech Foreign Minister Hamachek called on the EU and NATO allies to expel Russian diplomats on the 20th.
"Russia and the West have a new conflict in the Black Sea."
The US State Department issued a statement on the 19th, stating that the United States expressed “deep concern” about Russia’s plan to intercept foreign naval vessels and other vessels in parts of the Black Sea.
German Defense Minister Karenbauer criticized Russia on the 20th for "increasingly positioning itself as the opposite of freedom and democracy in the West," and called Russia "the most specific threat to NATO at the moment."
According to Kommersant’s report on the 20th, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced last week that from 9 p.m. on April 24 to 9 p.m. on October 31, it would restrict foreign military ships and other official ships from passing through Russian territorial waters. The opposition of the European Union and Ukraine.
The British recently announced that they would send ships into the Black Sea in May to "play a duel" with Russia, triggering ridicule from its own netizens.
German "Frankfurt Review" said on the 20th that internal documents of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense show that Russia has already begun military exercises along the Merchant Shipping Channel in the Black Sea. The exercise area accounts for more than 27% of the Black Sea, which is likely to have an impact on the Ukrainian economy.
On the 20th, Russia’s Interfax News Agency stated that Russia imposed temporary restrictions on flights not exceeding 19,000 meters above the eastern and southern parts of the Crimea Peninsula and some international waters of the Black Sea. On the same day, more than 20 Russian warships held military exercises in the Black Sea. The editor-in-chief of Russia's "National Arsenal" magazine said that Russia’s warning of these dangerous areas during coastal and offshore exercises is of special significance to Western politicians, who believe it is a new threat to Kiev. Regarding Russia’s flight restrictions on parts of the Black Sea’s airspace, Peskov said, “This is temporary, and imposing the above restrictions on certain areas is absolutely a world practice.”