His remarks raise the stakes even higher in the confrontation between russia
and western powers just days after US President Joe Biden and Russia's
Vladimir Putin held a two-hour video conference aimed at defusing a
burgeoning crisis over russian military movements near ukraine's borders,
where the kremlin is estimated to have amassed around 100,000 troops.
Deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryapkov's threat comes amid rising fears that
putin is considering a further military incursion into ukraine in a rehash
of russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its seizure of a
large part of the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, bordering russia.
In a phone call monday britain's Boris Johnson repeated to the russian
leader warnings that any repeat of 2014 would have significant consequences
and any destabilizing action by russia would be met with a united response
by western countries.
Following the call between Johnson and Putin, Ryabkov told the state-run
Riya Novosti News Agency Russia's response will be military if NATO
continues to arm ukraine. "A lack of progress towards a political diplomatic
solution would mean that our response will be military and military
technical," Rajkov said.
There will be confrontation, he added saying russia would deploy weapons
previously banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty,
an arms control deal struck in 1987 by then US President Ronald Reagan and
soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.
The treaty expired in 2019 but both Washington and moscow have not moved to
deploy the previously banned nuclear weapons.
According to british officials, Johnson stressed to Putin the importance of
having a dialogue on international and regional security and that all sides
needed to observe the minsk agreement signed by russia and ukraine in 2015
which aimed to bring an end to fighting in ukraine's Donbas.
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of failing to comply with the minsk
agreements.
Russian maneuvers, last week president biden outlined in his call with putin
the economic sanctions the west would impose if russian forces invaded
ukraine. A build-up of russian troops along the border with Ukraine and on
the Crimean Peninsula has prompted growing alarm in western capitals and
triggered an intense debate among western policymakers over putin's
intentions.
Russian motorized infantry, artillery and armored units along the border
tuesday appeared to be carrying out drills practicing combat alerts and
deploying to assembly points, according to ukrainian officials.
Kremlin officials maintain Russia as not preparing to invade ukraine and
accuse the ukrainians of mobilizing military units along their shared
border. They say NATO is helping kiev to build up its forces and is being
supplied with a significant number of weapons, including modern high-tech
weapons.
In Kiev on tuesday u.s assistant secretary of state for European and
Eurasian affairs, Karen donfried reassured Ukrainian officials of
washington's continued commitment to ukraine's independence and territorial
integrity.
Donfried is due to meet Ryabkov in moscow later this week. Ukrainian
President Vola Dimmer Zelensky, who is pressing NATO to admit his country as
a member, told reporters tuesday ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in
exchange of security guarantees from Russia. They were never respected, how
can we trust any russian promises.
Putin has demanded western powers guarantee in writing that ukraine would
not be a staging ground for NATO.
Last week russia's foreign ministry demanded washington formally close the
door on nato membership for both ukraine and georgia.
The foreign ministry also demanded that the western alliance guarantee the
non-deployment of weapons threatening russia's security on its western
borders. Ukraine's foreign minister on tuesday accused putin of trying to
return Europe to the soviet era.
"The fact Putin is searching for a new ideological justification concerning
ukraine suggests he's on the verge of something big, an attempt to
fundamentally rewrite the security order in Europe, to divide the continent
into new spheres of influence," Dimitro Kuliba said at a press conference
after his meeting with Donfried.
Western policymakers are split over why Putin has been amassing troops. They
are also wrestling with their options for deterring him from making any
dramatic military moves on Ukraine.
Some former US Diplomats and officials believe Washington and its european
allies should supply ukraine with more high-tech weaponry and sooner rather
than later. They see the Kremlin's anxiety over supplies of western
high-tech weapons as the best policy option to deter Russian adventurism.
