Will there be an escalation in eastern Ukraine? 5 questions and answers

Will there be an escalation in eastern Ukraine? 5 questions and answers

The situation is getting worse on the border with eastern Ukraine. Is this all just a test of Joe Biden’s political might?

Vladimir Putin leaves his country army On the border with Ukraine And spread in the Crimea. Will there be an escalation? What is the West doing? Five questions and answers.

What is happening now on the border with eastern Ukraine?

Since the end of March, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been moving combat forces and heavy equipment to the borders with eastern Ukraine and the occupied Crimea peninsula. Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrei Taran said, Wednesday, Russia “A total of 110,000 soldiers” gathered along the common border. In the past few weeks, there has been an increasing number of skirmishes over the so-called armistice line. Ukraine has also moved its forces to the east and near the occupied Crimean peninsula. Both sides cover each other with threats of war. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently said that trying to start a new war would end with “the destruction of Ukraine”.

Is a new war coming?

Nobody can say it because nobody knows what Putin really intends to do. The Minsk peace process, aimed at ending the raging conflict between Russia and Ukraine, has been postponed. One thing is clear: A new war will have dire consequences for both sides. So far, more than 13,000 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine as a result of the ongoing conflict since 2014 Life came. The Ukrainian army has also been modernized by the West in recent years arms Submitted. Instead of a short invasion campaign like in Georgia in 2008, Russia today will likely face a protracted war in eastern Ukraine.

What is NATO doing?

The Defense Alliance has repeatedly affirmed its support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday after a crisis meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister that “NATO is on the side of Ukraine.” Also the president of the United States Joe Biden He assured his counterpart Volodymyr Silinsky that he would support him. However, NATO will not be directly involved in the conflict. Ukraine is not a member of NATO and will not be in the foreseeable future. It is very likely that NATO will provide Ukraine with additional weapons and continue to support the army in training its forces.

Why is Russia acting so forcefully?

Russia has always said that it only wants to protect Russian citizens in the Ukrainian separatist provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk. Moscow has issued more than 400,000 Russian passports there in recent years. Many observers agree that this would only be a pretext for an attack. It will be important for Putin to want to see the new US president, Joe Biden, react under pressure. Recently this was the head of the Kremlin in one Interview He is referred to as a “killer”, which Putin did not like at all. This week, Biden warned the Russian president in a phone call of further escalation and at the same time suggested holding a summit in a third country.

What is the relationship of the new US sanctions against Russia?

The United States of America And imposed new sanctions on Russia on Thursday. It’s the delivery of a cyber attack on an American company last year, interfering in the US presidential election and offering bounties to the American soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan. Among other things, American banks are prohibited from making loans to Russia. The United States also expelled ten Russian diplomats from the country. The timing of the sanctions may have been deliberately chosen. It remains to be seen whether they make a huge impression in Moscow. Page 9, Article 2/4

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