By Begum Tunakan — After the fall of the strategic town of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian deputy foreign minister claimed while speaking to a Canadian radio station that the Ukrainian government is preparing for a full-scale war with Russia. In response to Russia’s heavy military presence in Ukraine, Ukraine has asked the United States and Canada to provide lethal weapons and military assistance in order to fight Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.
“On Ukraine, Russia’s continued support of ongoing separatist attacks in violation of the cease-fire in eastern Ukraine is undermining international diplomacy and multilateral institutions, the foundations of our modern global order,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement released on February 20.
Regarding Russian aggression in Ukraine, NATO warned about potential Russian expansion in European territories, as NATO’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander for Europe General Adrian Bradshaw underscored the dangers of the current situation in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London.
“Russia might believe the large-scale conventional forces that she has shown she can generate at very short notice … could in the future be used not only for intimidation and coercion but potentially to seize NATO territory,” General Bradshaw said on Friday. “The threat from Russia, together with the risk it brings of a miscalculation resulting into a slide into strategic conflict, however unlikely we see that as being right now, represents an obvious existential threat to our whole being.”
After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, there has been growing fear among northern European states that the Cold War years could be making a return.
Russia’s increased militarization of rebel-held areas in Ukraine’s Donbass region and its explicit support for pro-Russian separatists who are seeking regional leadership close to Russia have prompted fears among ex-Soviet states that are now committed to a pro-Western path.
Amid the deepening rift between Russia and Western powers, Russia appears determined to threaten the West with a show of military force. Russian troops have allegedly fought alongside rebels against Ukrainian troops. Ukraine and Western countries have accused Russia of backing and financing rebel militias, but Russian authorities have denied all charges. Western countries have accused Russia of violating the cease-fire agreement, noting that Russia would face additional sanctions if it continues to provide support to rebels in eastern Ukraine. The unwillingness of Russian President Vladimir Putin to implement the Minsk Accords by backing separatist groups has long been criticized by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.
As part of cease-fire agreement, a Ukrainian war prisoner exchange was first completed on Saturday night. A total of 139 Ukrainian troops and 52 rebels were reportedly exchanged as a step toward implementing an internationally-brokered peace deal.
The cease-fire agreement negotiated in the four-power talks on 12 February includes the withdrawal of all foreign weapons and troops from Ukrainian territory and the disarmament of Russia-backed rebel groups. The rebels were set a new deadline, 22 February, for the pullout of heavy armaments from the line of contact in the Donbass region, as reported by the Russian state-run Itar-Tass news agency.
As the shaky truce generally holds in violence-stricken eastern Ukraine, breaches of the Minsk Accords have been widely reported. The months-long crisis in Ukraine’s east has yet to be resolved despite the series of mediating talks and peace efforts.
According to U.N. figures, more than 2 million Ukrainians have been forcibly displaced due to the worsening humanitarian conditions in rebel-held areas where heavy fighting has turned eastern Ukraine into a battle zone. The death toll has reached to more than 5,600 and is expected to rise due to ongoing fighting despite the fragile cease-fire. Daily Sabah
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