Russia extends troop drills; Ukraine appeals for cease-fire

International

pti-PTI

Kyiv,
Feb
20:
Russia
extended
military
drills
near
Ukraine’s
northern
borders
Sunday
amid
increased
fears
that
two
days
of
sustained
shelling
along
the
contact
line
between
soldiers
and
Russia-backed
separatists
in
eastern
Ukraine
could
spark
an
invasion.

Ukraine’s
president
appealed
for
a
cease-fire.
The
exercises
were
originally
set
to
end
Sunday
and
brought
a
sizable
contingent
of
Russian
forces
to
Belarus.

The
presence
of
the
Russian
troops
raised
concern
that
they
could
be
used
to
sweep
down
on
the
Ukrainian
capital,
Kyiv,
a
city
of
about
3
million
people
less
than
a
three-hour
drive
away.

Western
leaders
warned
that
Russia
was
poised
to
attack
its
neighbour,
which
is
surrounded
on
three
sides
by
about
150,000
Russian
soldiers,
warplanes
and
equipment.
Russia
held
nuclear
drills
Saturday
as
well
as
the
conventional
exercises
in
Belarus,
and
has
ongoing
naval
drills
off
the
coast
in
the
Black
Sea.

The
United
States
and
many
European
countries
have
alleged
for
months
that
Russia
is
trying
to
create
pretexts
to
invade.
They
have
threatened
massive,
immediate
sanctions
if
it
does.
“
We’re
talking
about
the
potential
for
war
in
Europe,”
U.S.
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris
said
Sunday
at
a
security
conference
in
Munich,
Germany.
“It’s
been
over
70
years,
and
through
those
70
years
…
there
has
been
peace
and
security.”

A
top
European
Union
official,
Charles
Michel,
said:
“The
big
question
remains:
does
the
Kremlin
want
dialogue?”
“We
cannot
forever
offer
an
olive
branch
while
Russia
conducts
missile
tests
and
continues
to
amass
troops,”
said
Michel,
the
president
of
the
European
Council.

Ukrainian
President
Volodymyr
Zelenskyy
called
Saturday
on
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin
to
choose
a
place
where
the
two
leaders
could
meet
to
try
to
resolve
the
crisis
and
on
Sunday
appealed
for
a
cease-fire
on
Twitter.
Russia
has
denied
plans
to
invade,
but
the
Kremlin
had
not
responded
to
Zelenskyy’s
offer
to
meet
by
Sunday,
and
it
was
Belarus
—
not
Russia
—
that
announced
the
extension
of
the
drills.

NATO
has
estimated
there
are
30,000
Russian
troops
in
Belarus.
After
a
call
with
French
President
Emmanuel
Macron,
Putin
blamed
Ukraine
for
the
escalation
at
the
contact
line
and
NATO
for
“pumping
modern
weapons
and
ammunition”
into
Ukraine.

The
Kremlin
statement
mentioned
a
cease-fire
only
in
passing
and
made
no
mention
of
Zelenskyy’s
call
for
a
meeting.
In
Kyiv,
life
continued
seemingly
as
usual
on
Sunday,
with
brunches
and
church
services
in
full
swing.
Katerina
Spanchak,
who
fled
the
separatist-occupied
Lugansk
region
years
ago,
said
she
prayed
for
peace.

“We
are
people,
we
all
love
life,
and
we
are
all
united
by
our
love
of
life.
We
should
appreciate
it
every
day.
That’s
why
I
think
everything
will
be
fine,”
Spanchak
said
outside
services
at
St.
Michael’s
monastery.
But
in
Lugansk,
the
area
of
eastern
Ukraine
where
her
parents
still
live,
and
neighbouring
Donetsk,
separatist
leaders
ordered
a
full
military
mobilization
and
sent
more
civilians
to
Russia,
which
has
issued
about
700,000
passports
to
residents
of
the
rebel-held
territories.

Claims
that
Russian
citizens
are
being
endangered
might
be
used
as
justification
for
military
action.
Officials
in
the
separatist
territories
claimed
Ukrainian
forces
launched
several
artillery
attacks
over
the
past
day
and
that
two
civilians
were
killed
during
an
unsuccessful
assault
on
a
village
near
the
Russian
border.
Ukraine’s
military
said
two
soldiers
died
in
firing
from
the
separatist
side
on
Saturday.

Ukraine’s
leader
criticized
the
U.S.
and
other
Western
nations
for
holding
back
on
new
sanctions
for
Russia.
Zelenskyy,
in
comments
before
the
conference,
also
questioned
the
West’s
refusal
to
allow
Ukraine
to
join
NATO
immediately.
Putin
has
demanded
that
NATO
reject
Ukraine
as
a
member.

U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
said
late
Friday
that
based
on
the
latest
American
intelligence,
he
was
now
“convinced”
that
Putin
has
decided
to
invade
Ukraine
in
coming
days
and
assault
the
capital.
A
U.S.
military
official
said
an
estimated
40%
to
50%
of
the
ground
forces
surrounding
Ukraine
had
moved
into
attack
positions
closer
to
the
border.

The
official,
who
spoke
on
condition
of
anonymity
to
discuss
internal
U.S.
assessments,
said
the
change
had
been
underway
for
about
a
week
and
did
not
necessarily
mean
Putin
was
committed
to
an
invasion.
Lines
of
communication
between
Moscow
and
the
West
remain
open:
Macron
spoke
with
Putin
on
Sunday
for
nearly
two
hours
before
a
30-minute
call
with
the
Ukrainian
president.
U.S.
Secretary
of
State
Antony
Blinken
and
Russian
Foreign
Minister
Sergey
Lavrov
agreed
to
meet
next
week.

Blinken
said
Sunday
the
U.S.
was
still
working
every
lever
possible
to
try
to
dissuade
Putin
from
invading
Ukraine
but
said
recent
events,
including
the
extension
of
the
troops
in
Belarus
and
the
increase
in
shelling
along
the
contact
line,
showed
Putin
well
underway
in
laying
the
pretexts
and
groundwork
for
invasion,
in
line
with
findings
of
U.S.
intelligence
and
previous
Russian
territorial
grabs.
“He
is
following
the
script
almost
to
the
letter,”
Blinken
told
CNN.

“Up
to
the
last
minute,
there
is
still
an
option
for
him
to
pull
back,”
Blinken
told
NBC’s
Meet
the
Press.
He
said
his
offer
to
meet
Lavrov
in
Europe
in
the
coming
days
was
conditioned
on
Russia
not
rolling
into
Ukraine
beforehand.
Macron’s
office
said
both
the
Ukrainian
and
Russian
leaders
had
agreed
to
work
toward
a
diplomatic
solution
“in
coming
days
and
coming
weeks.”

Immediate
worries
focused
on
eastern
Ukraine,
where
Ukrainian
forces
have
been
fighting
the
pro-Russia
rebels
since
2014
in
a
conflict
that
has
killed
some
14,000
people.
Ukraine
and
the
separatist
leaders
traded
accusations
of
escalation.

Russia
on
Saturday
said
at
least
two
shells
fired
from
a
government-held
part
of
eastern
Ukraine
landed
across
the
border,
but
Ukraine’s
foreign
minister
dismissed
that
claim
as
“a
fake
statement.”

“When
tension
is
escalated
to
the
maximum,
as
it
is
now,
for
example,
on
the
line
of
contact,
then
any
spark,
any
unplanned
incident
or
any
minor
planned
provocation
can
lead
to
irreparable
consequences,”
Putin’ spokesman
Dmitry
Peskov
said
in
an
interview
that
aired
Sunday
on
Russian
state
television.

On
the
front
lines,
Ukrainian
soldiers
said
they
were
under
orders
not
to
return
fire.
Zahar
Leshushun,
peering
into
the
distance
with
a
periscope,
had
followed
the
news
all
day
from
a
trench
where
he
is
posted
near
the
town
of
Zolote.

“Right
now,
we
don’t
respond
to
their
fire
because
…” the
soldier
said
before
being
interrupted
by
the
sound
of
an
incoming
shell.
“Oh!
They
are
shooting
at
us
now.
They
are
aiming
at
the
command
post.”

Sporadic
violence
has
broken
out
for
years
along
the
line
separating
Ukrainian
forces
from
the
Russia-backed
separatists,
but
the
spike
in
recent
days
is
orders
of
magnitude
higher
than
anything
recently
recorded
by
international
monitors:
nearly
1,500
explosions
in
24
hours.

Denis
Pushilin,
the
head
of
the
pro-Russia
separatist
government
in
Ukraine’s
Donetsk
region,
cited
an
“immediate
threat
of
aggression”
from
Ukrainian
forces
in
his
announcement
of
a
call
to
arms.

Ukrainian
officials
vehemently
denied
having
plans
to
take
rebel-controlled
areas
by
force.
A
similar
statement
followed
from
his
counterpart
in
the
Luhansk
region.

On
Friday,
the
rebels
began
evacuating
civilians
to
Russia
with
an
announcement
that
appeared
to
be
part
of
efforts
to
paint
Ukraine
as
the
aggressor.
Metadata
from
two
videos
posted
by
the
separatists
announcing
the
evacuations
showed
the
files
were
created
two
days
ago,
the
AP
confirmed.
U.S.
authorities
have
alleged
the
Kremlin’s
effort
to
come
up
with
an
invasion
pretext
could
include
staged,
prerecorded
videos.