There are rising tensions between Germany and Russia. Because Angela Merkel asked Vladimir Putin to pull back Kremlin’s military force near the Ukraine border. In return, Putin accused Kyiv of his provocative actions in that conflicted area.
Ukraine raised the alarm over the increase in the number of Russian forces close to their eastern border. There is a rising level of violence along the line of contact that separates troops from the Russian-backed separatists in Donbas.
What did Angela Merkel demand?
The Chancellor of Germany wants the army build-up unwound to reduce tension situations increasing right now. The government of Germany readout a telephonic conversation that happened between Putin and Merkel.
Russia states that they do not want to pose a threat but are being defensive. Russia will stay there as long as Moscow thinks it is required.
Further, Kremlin dismissed the accusation that the army build-up was intentional to distract from “domestic issues,” including the arrest of Alexei Navalny ahead of elections.
Dmitry Peskov reported that the action had got nothing to do with “detainees” or anyone else. Russia needs to act with caution because it has restless areas around. The Ukraine border is one such example and thus needs renewed hostilities.
How Russia defended its actions?
A senior official from Kremlin said that Moscow needs to defend its citizen at the Donbas under certain circumstances. He also threatened by saying that significant hostilities can mark the start to the end of the Ukraine country.
Kremlin also readout the conversation between Merkel and Putin. He said that Putin notes provocative actions by Kyiv, which is the reason why there are rising tensions along the line of contact.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, flew to the eastern side of Donbas to show his support. This comes two days after he called on NATO and laid out a way for Ukraine to join the military bloc. Moscow fiercely opposes the expansion of this.
The rouble hit an all-time low compared to the past five months on April 7. It was one day after Russia started planning the inspection of their army’s readiness to gear up for the arising tension.
On April 8, a senior official from Kremlin, Dmitry Kozak, said that the government of Ukraine is playing with matches. He was the one who gave a heads up of this assessment.
Soon, a news conference was held, and Kozak was asked if Russia would protect their citizens from eastern Ukraine. He referred to the Srebrenica massacre while replying to the statement. He said that 8000 Muslims were killed during the Bosnian Serb forces between 1992 and 1995, so it depends on the “scale of fire.” He said if situations become bad, Russia will have to step in to defend them.
Western countries, along with Ukrainian authorities, believe the separatists of Donbas get arms, funds, and aids by Russians. However, to this, Moscow had denied interfering. However, a ceasefire had stopped a full-scale war in 2015, but the sporadic fighting didn’t stop ever since.
