On the heels of yesterday's comments from Poland's Sikorski, NATO has confirmed there's a risk of Russia sending troops into Ukraine under the 'pretext' of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission. "We're not going to guess what’s on Russia’s mind, but we can see what Russia is doing on the ground - and that is of great concern," a NATO spokesperson warned, adding, "this is a dangerous situation." Then US SecDef Hagel added, "the threat of Russian incursion in Ukraine is a reality." Russia's response to this warmongering (as Ukraine appears desperate to instigate something before the money runs out [6]) is to blast the disinformation, "reports of troop buildups near the Ukraine border are groundless." It appears we are going to need more YouTube clips...
US Secretary of Defense Hagel is chiming in...
- *HAGEL SAYS THREAT OF RUSSIAN INCURSION IN UKRAINE IS `REALITY'
- *HAGEL SEES 'POSSIBILITY' OF RUSSIAN TROOPS ENTERING UKRAINE
And as Bloomberg reports, NATO sees incursion risk on apparent troop buildup...
NATO said there’s a risk of Russia sending troops into Ukraine under the “pretext” of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission after President Vladimir Putin massed soldiers on his country’s western border.
“We’re not going to guess what’s on Russia’s mind, but we can see what Russia is doing on the ground -- and that is of great concern,” Oana Lungescu, a spokeswoman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said by e-mail today. “The latest Russian military buildup further escalates the situation and undermines efforts aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis. This is a dangerous situation.”
...
“Putin will likely aim at a fig leaf policy with an incursion under the guise of a peacekeeping operation,” Amanda Paul, an analyst at the European Policy Centre in Brussels, wrote in an e-mail. “As other conflicts in the former Soviet Union have shown, once there is a Russian military presence it usually never leaves.”
On the heels of yesterday's comments from Poland...
Poland has “reason to believe” that the risk of an incursion is “greater than a few days ago,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters in Warsaw today. His foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, yesterday said that any incursion would be under the guise of a peacekeeping operation.
The Germans are not buying NATO's perspective...
“I cannot believe Russia would attack Ukraine, which would worsen the situation further and deepen the conflict with the West,” Meister said by phone today. “I don’t see signs for invasion. In fact, Russia has tried to bring in some distance from the separatists.”
Russia's response:
- *RUSSIA SAYS REPORTS OF ARMY BUILDUP NEAR BORDER GROUNDLESS: IFX
- *INTERFAX CITES RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY ON MILITARY BUILDUP
- *PENTAGON, NATO STATEMENTS ON BORDER BUILDUP DISINFORMATION: IFX
* * *
We are sure evidence will be forthcoming...
