More and more facts show that we are going for a rapid escalation in Ukraine.
A group of Ukrainian army officials and international media journalists came under artillery fire. during a visit to the contact line of the eight-year conflict in eastern Ukraine.
In Donbas, there is a visible danger of ignition with pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army blaming each other for escalation, and the West accusing Russia of intensifying tensions by seeking a pretext for invading Ukrainian territory.
By updating its travel directive, the German government eNotes that tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue to rise. “A military conflict could occur at any time,” the statement said, advising Germans in the country to follow developments in the media and subscribe to the German Foreign Ministry’s crisis prevention lists. “Leave on time. “In the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, the options for supporting German citizens will be very limited,” the foreign ministry warned.
The German airline Lufthansa announced that from Monday until the end of the month suspends its flights to Ukraine.
France has called on its citizens to leave Ukraine and appealed to those in areas close to the east of the country to leave “without delay”.
He added that those “in the Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions” but also in the Dnipro region were “urged to leave these zones without delay”.
The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that the tension has escalated significantly in the last 24 hours and calls on the citizens to leave the country immediately, with the exception of its western regions.
Boris Johnson: “Western countries must honor their commitments and support Ukraine’s independence”
“We do not know exactly what President Putin’s intentions are, but the signs are ominous. That is why we must stand strong and united. “We must prepare for the possibility of a prolonged crisis and all together deny any damage,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Munich Security Conference.
“Kiev will not respond to challenges”
Speaking at the Munich conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country “will not respond to challenges in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, and will strive to establish peace through diplomacy.”
Ukraine has accused Russia of wanting to escalate tensions by not participating in scheduled trilateral peace talks on eastern Ukraine today, adding that it was concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the war zone.
“We believe that the Russian Federation’s abstention indicates its conscious intention to continue escalating the situation,” said a statement from the Munich-based delegation to the Munich Security Conference.
Nuclear exercises under Putin-Lukashenko supervision
Russian President Vladimir Putin today oversaw nuclear weapons exercises from the Kremlin headquarters, along with his close ally, Alexander Lukashenko, a Belarusian counterpart, the Russian president’s press office said.
Russia fired ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at sea and land targets as part of a strategic nuclear exercise overseen by the two men.
The annual exercises included launches of the Kinzhal and Tsirkon supersonic missiles and some other weapons, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Kremlin has announced that these exercises are part of a regular training process and denies that they are a sign of escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.
At the same time, the Russian Investigative Committee today launched an investigation into Russian media reports that a Ukrainian missile exploded in the Rostov region of Russia about 1 km from the border, the service said on its website.
Lafrov v. Germany over the Donbass “genocide”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called “unacceptable” the statement made by Chancellor Olaf Soltz about “ridiculous” allegations made by Russian President Vladimir Putin about genocide in the Donbas region.
The chancellor’s statement is inadmissible. “It is not the job of German leaders to joke about genocide,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by Interfax.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference earlier in the day, Mr Soltz said he had always stressed to President Putin that neither the EU nor NATO were aggressive alliances. “He brings up the case of Yugoslavia as a counter-argument, but I explain to him that a genocide had to stop there. “It is ridiculous to claim that genocide is taking place in Donbas,” the chancellor said.
Stoltenberg to Putin: Be careful not to have more NATO on your border
Finally, Jens Stoltenberg sent a strong message to Vladimir Putin that “he will find more NATO” on his borders in the midst of escalating tensions in Ukraine, noting that international “peace can not be taken for granted.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg today called on Moscow to stop preparing an attack on Ukraine, otherwise it will be severely affected amid concerns that an invasion is imminent.
“It is never too late for Russia to back down, stop preparing for war and start engaging in diplomatic talks with NATO and NATO allies to find a political solution. If Russia wants to divide us, it is essentially achieving the opposite, a more united NATO. “If Russia wants a smaller NATO presence on its borders, it will have the opposite, a larger NATO presence,” Stoltenberg told the Munich Security Conference.
Source: News Beast

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