MOSCOW, Feb 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday the situation in conflict-hit eastern Ukraine was worsening, as the West accuses him of planning an imminent attack on the country.
“Right now we are seeing a deterioration of the situation” in eastern Ukraine, Putin said at a press conference with his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow.
Russia has held massive military drills near Ukraine’s borders in recent weeks.
But Putin, who has demanded promises from the West that NATO won’t expand eastwards, said the drills — involving tens of thousands of soldiers — are not a threat.
“These exercises are purely defensive in nature and do not threaten anyone.”
He said the West and its allies are “not yet inclined to look seriously at these key security demands.”
Russia this week demanded that the US commit to pulling out all of its troops from Central and Eastern Europe.
The longtime Russian leader on Saturday will personally oversee military drills involving Moscow’s “strategic forces” which will include ballistic and cruise missile launches.
In WASHINGTON, President Joe Biden said he is “convinced” that Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine within the week, an event that would trigger Western sanctions set to turn Russia into what a US official called a “pariah.”
“As of this moment I’m convinced he’s made the decision,” Biden said in televised remarks at the White House.
Biden said the attack could come in the next “week” or “days” and that targets would include the capital Kyiv, “a city of 2.8 million innocent people.”
The US leader insisted it was “not too late to de-escalate and return to the negotiating table,” but warned that if an attack comes, the Russian president will have “slammed the door shut on diplomacy.”
The Kremlin insists it has no plans to attack its neighbor, which has angered Russia by seeking long-term integration with NATO and the European Union.
However, the United States says that with an estimated 149,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders — as many as 190,000, when including the Russian-backed separatist forces in the east — it’s only a matter of when. — NNN-AGENCIES
