Russia accused of deploying mercenaries in Donbass for “defensive reasons” | international security

Posted on Dec 24, 2021 at 17:35 inches
Russia Ukraine

While the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Friday December 24 that any dialogue between Moscow and Washington on “Euro-Atlantic security” would necessarily include Kiev as well, reliable sources revealed that Russia is deploying its mercenaries in the country. Eastern Ukraine to support the separatists.

To report the position of Kiev, the press agency was the same Interfax UkraineQuoting from what is written Twitter By Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. As per the last first question, And also most importantly, which the United States, the European Union and NATO should discuss with Russia relates to the normalization of the conflict in the Donbass, the only European region in which the conflict is still active. This should be done, along with the issue of Euro-Atlantic security, in dialogue formats that include Kiev’s presence.

Meanwhile, an independent Russian newspaper Moscow Timesaccording to ReutersHe revealed that Russia had been deploying its mercenaries to eastern Ukraine in recent weeks to support pro-Russian separatists in clashes with Ukrainian government forces. Reuters news agency reported on these developments, citing the statements of four fighters who had been recruited. The names of the informants were not disclosed. Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 23 that the Kremlin “must respond” and be ready to respond to Ukrainian plans to attack the pro-Russian territory of eastern Ukraine, Donbass. Putin’s claims follow weeks of Western warnings that Russia could invade Ukraine as early as January.

Independent news site Jellyfish I reported earlier this week that conscripts in Russia have begun to gather groups of mercenaries for a “combat mission” in the Donbass, but the scope of their work is unknown. According to Reuters, recruited Russian mercenaries are taking part in a special training campaign “for defensive and sabotage purposes in the Donbass.” The agency said, quoting one of the mercenaries, that they collect everyone who has experience in the army. this is the last Reuters said they were not aware of Al Ittihad’s plans or preparations for the attack. Separatist leaders said they were not aware of or involved in the recent recruitment drive. The Kremlin, which claims that all Russian citizens on the ground are voluntarily present, has denied any official ties with Russian private military contractors in eastern Ukraine. “This is the first time we hear about this and we don’t know how reliable these allegations are,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.

These developments came after the allegations of the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, who accused the United States of deploying private military companies in the Donbass. Soon, these statements were denied and described as “false” and “baseless”. Faced with accusations of massing tens of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border, Russia sent a draft treaty on security guarantees required of NATO and the United States on December 15. Later, on December 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation announced the content of the security agreement put forward by Moscow. The latter—which NATO officials immediately rejected—came in the form of a draft treaty, requiring the alliance to halt any expansion into Eastern Europe, Central Asia and all former member states of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Finally, the draft also included a request to dismantle military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe, stating that the parties should have agreed to “not deploy forces to areas where they were not present after 1997,” the year NATO expanded to the East began. In detail, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic joined the alliance in 1999, followed in 2004 by Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In the following years, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia also joined, bringing the total number of NATO member states to 30.

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Union, Sergei Ryabkov, explained that Moscow is asking Washington to cancel the results of the Bucharest Summit, which was held on April 2, 2008, when the alliance announced the start of the “open door” policy for Georgia and Ukraine. At the moment, Moscow has not yet received any concrete response from its counterpart. Although the president himself, Vladimir Putin, made it clear that this was not an ultimatum, the pressure on the West for a response gradually increased. For example, Ryabkov noted that failure to respond to Russian requests could lead to a new round of confrontation. Similar statements came on December 21 from the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. The latter warned that Moscow “is ready to take technical military measures” if NATO expands near the Russian borders because the country “has the full right” to take measures that guarantee the security and sovereignty of the nation. Russia has stated that it favors a bilateral dialogue on security guarantees with the United States. However, the latter emphasized that these are issues that must be addressed with all NATO member states, as well as with European partners. Moreover, the talks should also include the security concerns and demands of the alliance itself and the United States.

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Anna Pevereri, Russian and English translator

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