Russia sees itself threatened by US weapons and NATO and is therefore demanding security guarantees. At the same time, the leadership in Moscow does not rule out intervening in the conflict over eastern Ukraine should Kiev try to use force to take back the breakaway areas in Donbass with a military operation. Russia could invade there, citing its military doctrine to protect its citizens. Moscow is demanding that Kiev comply with the Minsk peace plan in order to prevent a violent solution to the conflict. Russia’s UN ambassador, Nebensya, had called on the USA at the UN session to also commit to the peace agreement and to stop fomenting “hysteria” about the risk of war in Europe. He accused the United States of speaking of a deployment of more than 100,000 Russian soldiers along the Ukrainian border without presenting any evidence. It remains unclear how the United States came up with this number. Russia does not deny the troop deployment itself, but has never given any figures.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its preparations for maneuvers in Belarus, the Defense Ministry said in Moscow. For this purpose, a field camp was set up on a military training area in Brest on the border with Poland. Russia and Belarus had stressed that the standard exercise from February 10 to 20 was not a threat to anyone. The United States, on the other hand, sees the danger of an attack from there on Ukraine – and withdrew diplomats from Belarus. According to a statement by the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, an exercise also began in the extreme east of Russia in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Pacific Ocean. About 20 warships of the Russian Pacific Fleet took part in the maneuver.