Ukraine Crisis: Russia begins military drills in Belarus days after de-escalation talks

Amid speculations of Russia's intention to invade Ukraine, Moscow on Thursday started major military drills with close ally Belarus, reported NBC News. The latest action from Russia came despite the Western countries pushing to sort out the issue diplomatically. As per the media reports, at least tens of thousands of troops, weapons systems and other forces are conducting joint exercises near the Ukrainian border. Apart from assembling near the Ukrainian border, Russian warships arrived in the Black Sea for naval drills, a move that Kyiv labelled part of a "hybrid war." Though Moscow claimed the assembling of troops only meant for military and naval drills, the western countries raised concerns Moscow could use them to execute their plan. Irrespective of western claims, Russia asserted the military and naval drills would not continue after February 20.

However, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) claimed the military drills would involve up to 30,000 combat corps and labelled it the biggest Russian deployment there since the Cold War. It is worth mentioning that the action from Russia came nearly four days after the mediation meeting held between French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the meeting, Macron claimed the meeting would help avoid further escalation. On the other hand, the White House said the recent development from the Russian side raised doubt and added "the drills don’t instil confidence that a de-escalation is possible". While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, "We see this as certainly more of an escalator and not a de-escalator action."

Russia accused of sea blockade

On the other hand, Moscow on several occasions asserted it has the right to move forces across its territory. Moreover, Kyiv accused Moscow of blocking parts of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to its south under the pretext of naval drills. In a statement released on Thursday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said, "The arrival of six warships are part of a hybrid war campaign," and added it made navigation in the area virtually impossible, threatening international trade. Notably, earlier last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted that "Moscow does not want war but added it won’t allow its security interests to be overlooked." According to him, the slow response of the western countries has muddied the waters in many ways. It is worth mentioning that the tension between Russia and Ukraine soared tremendously over the US intelligence reports that claim Russian forces have reportedly made all preparations to "invade Ukraine". However, Russian President Vladimir Putin refuted the US intelligence reports and called the allegations "baseless" on multiple occasions. 

Image: AP