US warns Russia “there will be consequences” if it acts aggressively towards Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in an interview this Sunday that there will be “consequences” if Russia acts “aggressively” against Ukraine.

“I am very concerned about the actions of Russia on the borders of Ukraine“Blinken said on the show Meet the press chain NBC on military deployment in the region.

United States President Joe Biden “has been very clear about this. If Russia acts recklessly or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences, ”Blinken said.

In recent days, Kiev and several Western capitals have criticized Moscow for concentrate troops on the Ukrainian border and in the annexed Crimean Peninsula, while fatal incidents with separatists are almost daily. Ukraine says the Kremlin may be looking for a pretext to launch a major military operation.

Although the fighting has been virtually paralyzed since the summer 2020 truce, it has resumed in recent weeks and since the start of the year 26 Ukrainian soldiers have died.

Moscow claims the war, in which more than 13,000 people died, is a Ukrainian civil war, while Kiev and Western countries take Russia’s documented military, political and financial support for the separatists as obvious.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ruled out the possibility of a war on Sunday, but also warned that “Russia will not remain indifferent to the plight of Russian speakers living in the southeast” of this country, where since 2014 there is a war between the Kiev troops and pro-Russian separatists.

“Russia puts everyone’s nerves to the test and declares its position: it must continue to be an important player for other countries, both for the United States and for Ukraine,” said Ruslan Leviev , Conflict Intelligence Team analyst, consulted by Washington. . “They are trying to show that Russia will not tolerate any sanctions or other measures taken to put pressure on them to bring Crimea back to Ukraine or to change the course of things in Donbass,” he added.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday that Russia now has more troops than ever on Ukraine’s eastern border since 2014. “We have asked Russia for an explanation for these provocations.” , he told reporters. State Department spokesman Ned Price, “But most importantly, what we have reported with our Ukrainian partners is a message of comfort.”

The United States has sent Ukraine $ 4.5 billion in aid since 2014, including two shipments of the Trump administration’s Javelin anti-tank missiles. Advanced weapons are kept away from the front lines due to the US fears provoking Russian escalation and the possibility of weapons falling into the hands of American adversaries, according to congressional advisers familiar with the situation.

The location of the missiles is kept secret from the public. State Department and Pentagon spokespersons declined to say whether Ukraine had moved the missiles in response to Russian troop movements.

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