Blinken vows support for Ukraine over ‘continued Russian aggression’

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba on Wednesday, expressed Washington’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity “in the face of Russia’s continuing aggression,” US Secretary of State John Kerry was quoted as saying. published.

Earlier in the day, the US Pentagon expressed concern about growing tensions on the Ukraine-Crimea border, following reports by the Ukrainian military that reinforcements of Russian forces along the way.

“We are concerned about the recent escalation of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, including the violations of the June 20 ceasefire agreement that resulted in the deaths of four Ukrainian soldiers on March 26,” said US Secretary of State John Kerry. .

“Russia’s destabilizing actions undermine the escalation of tensions that has been achieved,” he said, thanks to a truce between the Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists, and that hostilities have escalated since January.

Kiev and Moscow are blaming each other for the escalation.

The Ukrainian military recently reported the deployment of Russian troops on the country’s northern and eastern borders, as well as in Crimea, but observers have linked the move to military training.

“This is one of the reasons why (…) we got in touch with the Russians to try to clarify what exactly is going on,” Kerby said.

The head of the US General Staff, General Mark Milli, spoke Wednesday with Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Chief of General Staff Ruslan Homschak of the United States.

General Homchak on Tuesday denounced the “threat” to Ukraine’s “security”, claiming that the separatists had 28,000 fighters and “more than 2,000 trainers and military advisers” from Russia.

Moscow denies having developed men or weapons in the field.

John Kerby said US forces in Europe were on high alert for a “potential immediate crisis” and that the United States had referred to tensions in Ukraine in contacts with its NATO allies.

The day before yesterday, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, reaffirmed the “unwavering support of the United States for national sovereignty (and) territorial integrity (of Ukraine) in the face of the continuing aggression” with Andrei Germak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people, broke out in 2014, shortly after the annexation of Crimea to Russia following the uprising and the takeover of power by pro-Western forces in Kiev.

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