The Kyiv authorities have demanded once again that Russia pull back its troops from the border with Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Ukraine demands once again that the Russian Federation immediately
withdraw the offense units of its Armed Forces from the
Russian-Ukrainian state border. Such a step will be in line with the
Russian side’s commitment to take practical measures to help de-escalate
tensions in the southeastern regions of Ukraine in the spirit of the
April 17 Geneva document,” the Ukrainian ministry said.
The further concentration of Russian troops along the border with
Ukraine will pose a real threat of a continuing escalation in the east
of Ukraine in the presence of the decision adopted by the Federation
Council, the upper chamber of Russia’s parliament, which permitted the
possible use of Russian forces in Ukraine, should such a need arise, it
said.
“There is a threat that the armed groups of the pro-Russian forces in
this part of Ukraine could take advantage of the Russian troops’
presence in the vicinity of the border in order to provoke their sending
into the territory of Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The statement also reaffirms Kyiv’s commitment to the “Geneva
agreement”, as well as its intention to settle the situation in
southeastern Ukraine by peaceful methods.
“The presence of Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the eastern regions
of our state is exclusively aimed at protecting our citizens
irrespective of their nationality. Furthermore, the decision to put them
on high alert comes as a logical response to the threats of force use
and [possible] aggression against the territorial integrity of our state
that have been heard recently from official representatives of the
Russian Federation,” the ministry said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Russia Today
television station on Wednesday, when addressing the accusations leveled
at the Russian military amid the Ukrainian crisis: “Our troops are on
our territory. Our troops are conducting exercises on the territory of
our own country. Such exercises have become regular since Sergei Shoigu
was appointed defense minister.”
