KYIV听–听狈础罢翱听slammed Vladimir听笔耻迟颈苍听for “dangerous”听苍耻肠濒别补谤听谤丑别迟辞谤颈肠听after the Russian president announced plans to聽听颈苍听叠别濒补谤耻蝉, while Russian forces intensified shelling of the frontline Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.
Mr. Putin on Saturday to the US stationing its听飞别补辫辞苍蝉听in Europe, insisting Russia would not violate its听苍耻肠濒别补谤聽non-proliferation promises.
The move, while聽, is one of Russia’s most pronounced听苍耻肠濒别补谤聽signals yet and a warning to聽狈础罢翱听over its military support for Ukraine, which has聽 of the UN Security Council in response.
“Russia’s听苍耻肠濒别补谤听谤丑别迟辞谤颈肠听is dangerous and irresponsible,”聽狈础罢翱听spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.
“狈础罢翱听is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s听苍耻肠濒别补谤聽posture that would lead us to adjust our own.”
Mr. Putin‘s non-proliferation pledge and his description of US 飞别补辫辞苍蝉听deployment overseas were way off the mark, she added.
“Russia’s reference to听狈础罢翱‘s听苍耻肠濒别补谤聽sharing is totally misleading.聽狈础罢翱听allies act with full respect of their international commitments,” she said in a statement. “Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments.”
Ukraine’s security chief, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russia’s plan would destabilize听叠别濒补谤耻蝉, which he said had been taken “hostage” by Moscow.
Others too joined the chorus of condemnation on Sunday, with Lithuania聽聽it would call for new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk, while EU policy chief Josep Borrell urged听叠别濒补谤耻蝉聽not to host the听飞别补辫辞苍蝉听and threatened further sanctions.
叠别濒补谤耻蝉听and Russia have close military ties, and Minsk allowed Moscow to use听叠别濒补谤耻蝉ian territory as a staging point for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.
Experts said Russia’s move was significant since it had until now been proud that unlike the United States, it did not deploy听苍耻肠濒别补谤聽飞别补辫辞苍蝉听outside its borders. It may be the first time since the mid-1990s that it has done so.
The US, also a听苍耻肠濒别补谤聽superpower, played down concerns about Russia’s planned听苍耻肠濒别补谤聽deployment.
Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the US House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said he regarded Russia’s plan as designed to intimidate the West.
“I think this is saber-rattling on the part of听笔耻迟颈苍听basically to try to frighten,” Mr. McCaul told the Fox News Sunday program. “These tactical nukes are disturbing.”
聽refer to those used for specific gains on a battlefield rather than those with the capacity to wipe out cities. It is unclear how many such听飞别补辫辞苍蝉听Russia has, given it is an area still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.
Mr. Putin聽on Sunday asserted that Western powers are building a new “axis” similar to the partnership between Germany and Japan during World War Two.
This was a reprisal of a theme he has used in his portrayal of the war –聽that Moscow is聽聽a Ukraine in the grip of supposed Nazis, abetted by Western powers menacing Russia.
Ukraine rejects those parallels as spurious pretexts for a war of imperial conquest.
Mr. Putin聽also denied Russia was creating a聽聽with China. The United States has said that it fears China could arm Russia, something China denies.
‘POST-APOCALYPTIC’ AVDIIVKA
On the battlefield, Russian shelling forced a nearly full shutdown of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which lies some 90 kilometers (56 miles) southwest of the , the top local official said on Sunday.
“I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies,” the city’s military administration head Vitaliy Barabash said.
On Sunday, Russian shelling targeted two high-rise buildings in Avdiivka, which is just 10 km from the northern outskirts of Donetsk city, which has been under Moscow’s control since 2014.
罢丑别听Ukrainian military warned last week that Avdiivka could become a “second Bakhmut” – where fierce fighting described by both sides as a “meat grinder” has turned the town into rubble.
Ukraine’s General Staff said on Sunday its forces had repelled 85 Russian attacks during the past 24 hours across the eastern front, including the Bakhmut area.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday that it forces had struck military targets in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, causing significant Ukrainian casualties.
The ministry also said it had downed a Ukrainian drone south of Moscow on Sunday, adding three people were injured and apartment blocks were damaged in the聽.
Russia has said in the past that Ukrainian drones have flown into its territory and caused damage to civilian infrastructure, an assertion Kyiv denies.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports. – Reuters
