The United States estimates that Russia will seek military action against Ukraine in mid-February Vladimir Putin | The world

To us That is estimated this Wednesday Russia Can attack Ukraine Over the next three weeks, a meeting of European ambassadors in Paris will explore how to reduce tensions between Moscow and Kiev. US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has said she does not know if Russian President Vladimir Putin will “use military force at some point, perhaps now and by mid-February.”

U.S. diplomacy number two has promised that the Beijing Olympics will begin on February 4, because Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he “would not like to keep Putin there if he chooses that time to invade Ukraine.”

See: Russia launches major war maneuvers in the Black Sea with more than 20 missile-equipped ships

However, the US embassy in Kiev on Wednesday “forced” its citizens to leave. Ukraine Without delay in confronting the “growing threat of Russian military action.”

Tensions have been rising for six months Ukraine With Russia The Crimean peninsula attracted attention in 2014 for amassing tens of thousands of soldiers on the border with the former Soviet republic, an annexed country.

Diplomatic advisers to the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and France and Germany have been holding a meeting in Paris since noon to find a way out of the crisis and find the “mood” in Moscow.

Two days before the talks between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, the French president considered it “encouraging” that the Russians agreed to meet under the design of the Normandy Quartet created in 2014 to get out of the crisis.

See: Why Germany refuses to send arms to Ukraine (what does this say about its “complicated” relationship with Russia)

However, the discussions have been reported to be difficult. During the talks between Moscow and Washington, Russia reiterated its repeated demands that it be necessary to guarantee its security, and a European official described it as “unacceptable.”

Russia, in particular, is demanding that Ukraine’s final alliance with NATO be rejected. Sources in the organization told AFP that a written response from the military alliance and the United States to Russian demands would be sent to Moscow by the weekend.

The idea of ​​“destroying”

Russia It has multiplied its military maneuvers in recent weeks, including the border with Ukraine, and began training on Tuesday involving about 6,000 soldiers, militants and bombers in southern and Crimea.

Earlier, Moscow announced naval maneuvers in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and Mediterranean, as well as joint exercises with Belarus on EU borders.

Russia has also amassed 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border.

Despite the warning, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on Wednesday that the number of Russian troops stationed on the border was “not enough” to carry out a larger offensive.

“This number is” important, it represents a threat to Ukraine, “but” at the time we speak, this number is not enough for a large-scale offensive against Ukraine across the border, “Guleba said at a virtual press conference.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned of the “enormous consequences” of an attack, proposing that a decision to “change the world” could “consider” personal sanctions against Putin.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, described the idea as “destructive” to relations with the United States, underestimating its impact as Russian law in principle prohibits its senior officials from holding assets abroad.

“No more war,” the pope asks

In the face of tensions bringing back the ghosts of the Cold War against the United States to the then Soviet Union, Pope Francis appealed: “Please, never war anymore!”

On Monday, the United States placed about 8,500 troops on alert, and they could join the rapid reaction force OTAN 40,000 soldiers. But its deployment has not yet been decided.

The OTAN For his part, he announced that he was ready to send ships and warplanes to strengthen his defenses in Eastern Europe. Russia views the coalition forces around it as an existential threat.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic announced the donation of 4,000 artillery shells to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Another source of tension is Andrei Turshak, a senior official in the Russian parliament, who has urged Russia to hand over its weapons to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and accuse Kiev of “preparing for military occupation” of the rebel areas.

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