At the beginning of her speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, she recalled that there are reports in the media about the buildup of military forces by Russia near the Ukrainian borders.
The head of the European Commission said that such actions indicate attempts to destabilize the situation in Ukraine.
“I would like to reiterate our firm intention to guarantee and protect the unity and sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as the rights of all other sovereign states ... Of course, we want to have good relations with Russia, but it depends on its actions,” von der Leyen quotes RIA News.
On November 12, Bloomberg reported that the United States expressed concerns to the EU authorities that Moscow may consider the possibility of an "invasion" of Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Western media reports about Moscow's alleged use of the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border to prepare an "invasion" of Ukraine are a myth.
In November, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov stressed that the country was not going to attack anyone.