Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday called for direct talks with Moscow as tensions mounted over claims that Russia is laying the groundwork for an invasion.
Zelensky’s call came as NATO looks to counter what it says is a build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, with US diplomatic chief Antony Blinken set to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Stockholm on Thursday.
“We must tell the truth that we will not be able to end the war without direct talks with Russia,” Zelensky said during an annual address to lawmakers in Kiev.
“Let’s be honest, the war in Donbass has been going on for eight years,” Zelensky said, referring to eastern Ukraine.
“We must talk, knowing that we have a strong and powerful army,” Zelensky added, saying he was “not afraid” to speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kiev’s Western allies have since last month warned of a fresh Russian troop buildup around Ukraine’s borders and a possible winter invasion.
The alleged surge follows a similar buildup in the spring, when Russia gathered around 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders but later announced a drawdown.
At the peak of those tensions Zelensky invited the Russian leader to meet for talks in eastern Ukraine, but the Kremlin declined the invitation.
– Moscow accusations –
Russian officials in turn have accused Kiev of massing tens of thousands of troops near separatist-controlled territory.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are building up their military strength, massing heavy equipment and personnel,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Wednesday.
“According to some reports, the number of Ukrainian troops in the conflict zone has already reached 125,000 personnel,” she claimed, saying this represented half of Kiev’s troops.
Those comments followed the Ukrainian foreign ministry saying Tuesday that Russia has massed 115,000 troops around Ukraine, on the Crimean peninsula — which Moscow annexed in 2014 — and in two eastern regions occupied by the breakaway fighters.
Putin on Tuesday declined to say whether Moscow planned to move troops across Ukraine’s border, as the West has been alleging for weeks.
“Look, they spoke about a possible Russian military intervention in Ukraine at the beginning of the year. But as you see this did not happen,” Putin said.
The Russian leader added that the security interests of all parties should be taken into account and called for improved ties.
US Secretary of State Blinken was in Latvia on Wednesday where a meeting of NATO foreign ministers focused largely on tensions over Russia’s military build-up.
During the gathering, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a “deterrence package” to stop Russia.
Blinken is scheduled to hold talks with Russia’s Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) after meeting Kuleba.
The Kremlin has denied claims it is planning an invasion of Ukraine and blamed the escalation in tensions on the West supplying Ukraine with modern weaponry, conducting drills in the Black Sea and flying bombers near Russia’s borders.
Kiev and its Western allies have long accused Russia of sending troops and arms to support the separatists. Moscow has denied those claims.
The conflict has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2014.
