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The Russian Foreign Ministry noted NATO's responsibility for escalating the current crisis in Eastern Europe. The North Atlantic alliance accused Moscow of having plans to invade Ukraine.
NATO continues to claim that the level of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border is increasing, despite evidence showing that Russia has withdrawn some of its forces from Crimea and Belarus following the completion of drills.
Maria Zakharova, Russian FM spokesperson, remarked that the military-political situation in the region continues to worsen. She reiterated that NATO had not delivered a concrete answer about Russian proposals on security guarantees, which intends to correct this situation.
It is crucial that NATO stops its policy of expansion and its military deployment near Russian borders, marked Zakharova. In this sense, she pointed out the need to return the set-up of the alliance's forces to the positions of 1997.
Moscow has rejected untiringly ill-willed claims from the U.S. government and Western media about an invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has even stated that Russian troops deployed near its borders are not sufficient to pose a threat of invasion. However, the U.S. keeps drawing attention to a Russian attack that could occur at any time, even under the guise of a false flag incident.
Russian Deputy FM Vershinin told the UN Security Council on Thurs- 122,000 Ukrainian military forces were lined up at the front with Donbass with the possible intention of launching an offensive against the 2 breakaway provinces there.#UkraineCrisishttps://t.co/BnaNXhKd3R
— Baba Yaga (@WhirlwindWisdom) February 18, 2022
According to U.S. State Department, the news from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) concerning explosions and artillery shelling by Ukrainian forces constitute a false flag operation. Such claims are just another attempt to make Russia look like the one who attacks first in this conflict by lying and misleading public opinion.
On Friday, Denis Pushilin pointed out the evacuation of 700 000 civilians eastward into Russia's Rostov region. This evacuation is associated with a full-scale offensive that can happen at any time, he said.
Moscow contributed to negotiating the Minsk Protocol peace settlement process with Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). However, Ukraine and NATO insist on accusing Moscow of stealthily supporting the rebels, which Russia has also refused.
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