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regular-article-logo Monday, 23 December 2024

European Union calls for tough stance on Russia

Washington says the Communist country has amassed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders, possibly for an invasion

Reuters Brussels Published 17.12.21, 01:16 AM
Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin. File photo

The EU is under assault from Russia on multiple fronts and must unite behind new economic sanctions, Baltic and central European leaders said on Thursday, with Lithuania citing a risk of possible Russian military strikes from Belarus.

The warnings at an EU summit were some of the most direct in recent weeks as the United States and its Nato allies seek to deter any possible Russian attack on Ukraine and reduce Moscow’s margin for surprise. Many Nato allies are also EU member states.

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“We really are facing a series of attacks. I see them all as associated,” Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told reporters, listing what he said was the weaponisation of West Asia migrants on Belarus’s borders with the EU, artificially high prices for Russian natural gas, and Russian disinformation.

Ukraine remains the main flashpoint between Russia and the West. Washington says Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders, possibly for an invasion. Moscow says it has a right to move its troops around its own territory as it sees fit but says the manoeuvres are purely defensive.

EU leaders will warn of “massive consequences” if Russia were to invade Ukraine, according to a draft final summit statement seen by Reuters. The US and Britain have taken a similar stance.

The Kremlin denies the West’s accusations against it, including any plan to invade Ukraine. It says it has legitimate security interests in the region and on Wednesday handed proposals to the US that Nato should not expand eastwards or place new weapons systems near Russia’s borders.

Prime Minister Micheal Martin of Ireland, a neutral country outside Nato, said any disputes with Moscow should be resolved by “peaceful means”.

But Russia’s Baltic neighbours attacked what they see as Moscow’s attempts to blur the line between peace and war. “We are probably facing the most dangerous situation in the last 30 years, I am talking about not only Ukraine but the eastern flank of Nato,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

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