KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 (NNN-Bernama) — Ukraine remains firmly committed to politico-diplomatic settlement of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the Ukraine Embassy in Malaysia said.
In a statement here Saturday, the embassy said allegations that Ukraine intends to launch an offensive operation in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Donbas are baseless and preposterous.
It added that Ukraine categorically rejects “the attempts of Russia to aggravate the already tense security situation.
“Ukraine is not conducting or planning any acts of sabotage in Donbas. Our citizens reside on both sides of the contact line. Their peace, security and well-being are an absolute priority for Ukraine,” the statement said.
The embassy statement accused Moscow of a disinformation campaign spreading insinuations and groundless accusations against Ukraine, which it said is aimed at creating an excuse to start an invasion.
According to the embassy’s statement, on Feb 17, Russia also had refused to hold an extraordinary round of consultations of the security subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group convened by the Ukrainian delegation to discuss the shelling of Ukrainian towns from the temporarily occupied territories.
“On Feb 18, residents of temporarily occupied areas are being urged to evacuate to Russian territory. We are particularly concerned about the reports of mass movements of children from the occupied territories to Russia,” the statement said.
Ukraine has been locked in conflict with Russia since the latter’s illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014.
The situation further escalated after Moscow reportedly deployed large number of troops near Ukraine, prompting fears that the Kremlin could be planning military offensive against its former Soviet neighbour.
However, Russia has denied that it is preparing to invade, and accused Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion towards its borders. Russia said the deployment of its troops are within its own territory.
According to Anadolu Agency, Kremlin also issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states and guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia would not join NATO.
In a written response to the demands, Washington said it is committed to upholding NATO’s “open door policy,”.
Meanwhile, in the statement, the Ukrainian embassy also expressed its appreciation to Malaysia for consistently supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity since the start of the conflict in 2014.
“On a more personal note, our hearts are particularly touched by the multiple messages, emails and telephone calls from Malaysians expressing their solidarity and hope for peace,” it said.
— NNN-BERNAMA