The situation in eastern Ukraine escalated on February 17. Kiev, the LPR and the DPR accused each other of violating the ceasefire. On Friday, February 18, the head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, said that Zelensky would soon order the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbass, in connection with which both self-proclaimed republics began evacuating civilians to Russia.
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In response, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said that they were trying to provoke the Ukrainian side into hostilities, but fire could be opened only if the lives of servicemen were threatened.
Amid the escalation of the situation, the US administration expressed concern about the imminent departure of Zelensky to Germany to participate in the Munich Security Conference, sources told NBC. According to them, the White House fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin may take advantage of the absence of the head of state. Russia, in turn, has repeatedly denied reports of an impending invasion of Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden called Zelensky’s decision to go to Munich “not the wisest”, but emphasized that he made this choice himself.