Europe 1 with AFP 3:28 p.m., November 18, 2021, modified at 3:32 p.m., November 18, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Poutine on Thursday accused Western countries of "aggravating" tensions in Ukraine by supplying arms to Kiev and carrying out military exercises in the Black Sea.
The strong man from Moscow also accused the Western bombers of having flown 20 km from the Russian borders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused Western countries of exacerbating tensions in Ukraine and the Black Sea, further denouncing flights of "strategic bombers" near Russian borders.
Moscow warns the West
"Our Western partners are worsening the situation by delivering modern weapons to Kiev and carrying out provocative military exercises in the Black Sea and other areas close to our border," he said at a meeting of the ministry. Russian Foreign Office.
"Regarding the Black Sea, it really exceeds certain limits. Strategic bombers fly 20 kilometers from our borders and carry, as we know, very dangerous weapons," continued the Russian president.
He also criticized the West for considering Moscow's warnings "superficially" on crossing "red lines".
"Our concerns and warnings about NATO's enlargement to the east have been completely ignored," he continued.
Growing tensions
These remarks come in a context of growing tensions between Moscow and Western countries.
NATO, Washington, Paris, and Berlin have denounced in recent days a reinforcement of Russian troops on the eastern borders of Ukraine, where a war with pro-Russian separatists has been underway since 2014. The same year, Moscow annexed the peninsula. Ukrainian woman from the Crimea, in response to a pro-Western revolution.
Russia has already carried out large-scale military maneuvers near Ukraine in the spring of 2021, raising fears of an invasion.
Kiev, which initially downplayed the scale of the deployment of Russian forces at its borders, changed tone Thursday, notably asking for arms deliveries to its Western allies.