(new: Macron call with Putin and Zelenskyy)
BRSSEL/KIEV/MOSKAU (dpa-AFX) – From the point of view of the Russian leadership, the transfer of 2,000 soldiers to Europe announced by the USA is further heating up the Ukraine conflict. The Kremlin accused the US government on Thursday of allowing the situation to escalate. Moscow will now take measures “to ensure its own security and interests,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. In the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought up talks as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. He called for a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi received Erdogan with military honors. “Turkey is ready to do its part to end the crisis between the two countries,” said the Turkish head of state. “We call on all parties to exercise restraint and maintain dialogue.”
Turkey maintains good relations with both Russia and Ukraine. Ankara delivers combat drones to Kiev, for example – according to Zelenskyj, production is to be set up in Ukraine. Russia, in turn, supplies Turkey with gas. In addition, both countries have large-scale military operations in Syria, for example – albeit on different sides.
The Kremlin had recently reacted cautiously to Erdogan’s efforts as a mediator between Kiev and Moscow. According to both countries, Erdogan and his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin want to meet in Turkey. But it was unclear when that would happen.
With Western reports of a deployment of more than 100,000 Russian soldiers near Ukraine, there are fears that the Kremlin is planning an invasion of its neighboring country. Moscow denies this. It is also considered possible that the Russian side wants to stir up fears in order to persuade NATO to make concessions on demands for new security guarantees.
Amid the severe tensions, the US Department of Defense announced on Wednesday that it would send around 2,000 soldiers to Europe – 300 of them to Germany. 1,700 workers are to be relocated to Poland. In turn, 1,000 American soldiers would be transferred from the Federal Republic to Romania.
“We call on our American partners not to further increase tensions on the European continent,” said Kremlin spokesman Peskov, according to the Interfax agency. Russia has criticized the fact that the United States and its NATO allies responded to its offers to talk about a new security architecture in Europe by stationing more soldiers in Eastern Europe and supplying arms to Ukraine.
On the other hand, NATO accused Russia of having already relocated around 30,000 soldiers to Belarus, its partner country north of Ukraine. Combat aircraft, Iskander missiles that can be equipped with nuclear weapons, S-400 air defense systems and special units of the GRU military intelligence service are also coming with the combat troops, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.
In a week, Russia and Belarus want to start joint maneuvers in the south of the ex-Soviet republic. At a meeting with Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko said that one had to react to the threat from the south. “We are forced to strengthen the border with Ukraine.” Russia will help.
Shoigu had said that the total number of soldiers in the ten-day exercise (February 10-20) did not exceed the maximum number stipulated in the 2011 Vienna Document. That would mean less than 13,000 soldiers, 300 tanks, 500 armored vehicles and 3,500 paratroopers.
Efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict have been going on for weeks – but without any tangible results. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced on ZDF that he would be traveling to Moscow “soon” for talks with Putin. In the evening, the President called France’s head of state Emmanuel Macron again – it was the third phone call between the two politicians within a few days. Macron also spoke to Selenskyj, as Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Ukrainian television in the evening. He didn’t give any details at first.
According to the Kremlin, Putin once again made it clear that Russia is concerned with “long-term, legal security guarantees” for Moscow. NATO and the USA had recently rejected central demands from Russia, but showed themselves willing to talk. The two presidents also gave their assessments of the most recent diplomatic efforts to ease the situation./cht/DP/he