Leaders of two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine ordered full military mobilization on Saturday.
“I urge fellow countrymen who are in the reserve to come to the military commissariats. Today I have signed a decree on general mobilization,” self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic leader, Denis Pushilin, said in a video message.
Another separatist leader, Leonid Pasechnik, signed a similar decree for the Luhansk People’s Republic shortly afterwards.
Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels have reported increased shelling in the east over the last few days. On Saturday, Kyiv said one of its soldiers was killed.
Washington and other Western allies say the apparent flareup could form part of a Russian pretext to invade Ukraine.
“There is simply no evidence to these assertions and it defies basic logic to believe the Ukrainians would choose this moment, with well over 150,000 [Russian] troops arrayed on its borders, to escalate a yearslong conflict,”US President Joe Biden said on Friday.
Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to attack its neighbor.
On Friday, the breakaway regions started evacuating residents to Russia. They cite fears of an imminent attack by Ukrainian forces — an accusation Kyiv flatly denied.
Scholz: West can talk about ‘legitimate security interests’
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that “Europe once again faces a threat of a war, and risk has by no means been averted.”
The German leader said the West must not be “naïve” and reaffirmed Berlin’s commitment to countries deciding for themselves whether or not they will apply for NATO.
Scholz said the diplomacy could still solve the Ukraine crisis
At the same time, he hinted that the West was ready to compromise on other issues, as there was a difference between “untenable demands and legitimate security interests” raised by Russia. Specifically, he pointed to “transparency around weapons systems, risk mitigations mechanism and new approaches on arms control.”
Johnson warns against ‘might is right’ mindset
The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, told the Munich Security Conference Russia has nothing to gain from “this catastrophic venture.”
He said if Russia invaded Ukraine, the shock would echo worldwide.
“The risk now is that people will draw the conclusion that aggression pays, and that might is right,” Johnson said.
Even at “this 11th hour,” he said there was a chance to “pursue the path of peace and dialogue.”
The Prime Minister echoed EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s call for Europe to “wean itself off dependence on Putin’s oil and gas.”
Harris meets Zelenskyy in Munich
US Vice President Kamala Harris met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the conference sidelines, telling him: “Any threat to your country we take seriously.”
Zelenskyy responded saying: “We clearly understand what is going on. This is our land. We want peace.”
The Ukrainian president said Kyiv needed Western allies to take “specific steps,” alluding to Ukraine’s requests for even more military and economic help.
He noted that with Russian troops at his country’s borders, Ukraine’s army was, in fact, “defending all of Europe.”
Earlier, Harris warned Moscow that an invasion of Ukraine could likely lead to an even bigger NATO footprint on Russia’s doorsteps.
“We will not stop with economic measures, we will further reinforce our NATO alliance on the eastern flank,” she said.
Harris warned Russia of huge financial costs if it invades Ukraine
The US has warned that Russia now has some 190,000 troops on the borders with Ukraine.
The Kremlin said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron would speak on the phone on Sunday. Next week, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to meet with his US counterpart Anthony Blinken.
German foreign minister warns against guesswork
Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has warned against trying to guess or assume Russia’s decisions on Ukraine.
Baerbock’s comments came after US President Joe Biden said he believed Russian leader Vladimir Putin has decided on an invasion.
“In crisis situations, the most inappropriate thing to do is to somehow guess or assume,” Baerbock said on Saturday, in response to a question on whether she shared Biden’s assessment.
Russia ‘poised to strike’ Ukraine, US defense secretary warns
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed the US would stand with its Baltic allies during a visit to Lithuania.
“I want everyone in Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia to know, and I want President (Vladimir) Putin in the Kremlin to know, that the United States stands with our allies,” Austin said.
Austin said Russian forces near Ukraine were beginning to “uncoil”
The US officials warned that Russia’s military was “poised to strike” Ukraine.
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda urged the US to bolster its military presence in the Baltic states.
“The Russian military buildup at the eastern NATO border is changing the security situation,” Nauseda said.
Moscow denies responsibility for cyber-attack on Ukraine
On Saturday, Russia also denied allegations that it was behind cyber-attacks on dozens of official Ukrainian websites.
The US, UK, and Ukraine blamed Moscow of being behind the spate of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks that briefly knocked out banking and government websites.
“We categorically reject these baseless statements of the administration and note that Russia has nothing to do with the mentioned events and in principle has never conducted and does not conduct any ‘malicious’ operations in cyberspace,” the Russian embassy in the US wrote on Twitter.
Putin to attend launching drills
President Putin was set to supervise an exercise involving ballistic and cruise missile launches.
Russia’s defense ministry said the air force, southern military district units, as well as the northern and Black Sea fleets would be involved.
Putin was expected to monitor the practices from a situation control center at the defense ministry.
lo/dj (AFP, AP, Interfax, Reuters)
Ukraine latest: Separatists order full military mobilization
Source: Pinoy Pop News
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