Ukrainian Foreign Minister: Russian Troops Continue To Increase, Snipers Provide Provocation

Illustration of a sniper on the border of Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Sebastian Meyer)

JAKARTA - Russia will soon have more than 120,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday local time.

To prevent further military escalation and buildup on their borders, Ukraine is calling on Western nations to impose new sanctions on Russia.

Washington and NATO have been alarmed by large increases in Russian troops near Ukraine and in Crimea, the peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Western officials say troop concentrations are now greater than during the annexation. The figure given by Kuleba is higher than Ukraine's previous estimate of 80,000 Russian troops of which 50,000 are new deployments.

"Russian troops continue to arrive near our borders in the northeast, in the east, and in the south. In about a week, they are expected to reach a combined force of more than 120,000 troops," Kuleba said at an online press conference citing Reuters, Wednesday, January 21.

"This doesn't mean they will stop building their troops at that number," Kuleba said, warning of what he said was Moscow's uncertainty even though he said Ukraine did not want conflict with Russia.

"The costs of preventing further Russian escalation will always be lower than the costs of stopping it and reducing its consequences. It is much more effective to make Moscow understand clearly that a new stage of aggression will have dire consequences for Russia, international isolation, and painful economic sanctions," he explained.

Illustration of Russian soldiers on the border of Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Anton Holoborodko)

Kuleba also called on Moscow to recommit to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed forces have been battling Ukrainian forces in a conflict that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people since 2014.

Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the increasing casualties in the conflict in recent weeks. Kuleba said Russian snipers killed Ukrainian soldiers to provoke Ukraine to counterattack.

Earlier, the Head of EU Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell said Russia had deployed more than 150 thousand of its troops to the border between Ukraine and Crimea.

"More than 150,000 Russian troops are gathering on the border of Ukraine and in Crimea. The risk of further escalation is evident," said Borrell, refusing to provide a source for the figure on Tuesday 20 April.

Separately, the United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) said Russia's current military development was greater than in 2014. It was unclear whether it was for training purposes.

2014 refers to the clashes that took place between the Russian military and the Ukrainian military. At that time, Russia successfully annexed the Crimea region

"It is definitely bigger than it was in 2014. It is not clear the movement of the troops is for training purposes," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, but declined to give a specific number.

Meanwhile, Russia says its troop increase is a three-week ratchet military exercise to test combat readiness in response to what it calls threatening behavior from NATO. Moscow on Tuesday also accused the United States and NATO of provocative activity in Black Sea waters and airspace.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow's military build-up near Ukraine was part of a massive exercise, which was meant to test combat readiness and respond to what he called threatening military action by NATO.

Shoigu said the training, which was planned to be held for three weeks, would be completed in the next two weeks. Shoigu said NATO has deployed 40,000 troops and 15,000 military equipment near the Russian border, mainly in the Black Sea and the Baltic region. This is denied by NATO.