MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Russia does not have the right to exclude the possibility of Kiev conducting a military operation in Donbass under the current conditions when increasingly more forces and equipment are being accumulated near the line of engagement with the support of Western countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"Significant units and military equipment of NATO countries, including those of the US and the UK, are being deployed closer to our borders. In Ukraine itself, near the line of engagement in Donbass, increasingly more forces and equipment are being accumulated with the support of the growing number of Western instructors. Heavy armaments, including drones, directly banned under the Minsk Agreements, are being used against Donetsk and Lugansk. We simply have no right to exclude that Kiev’s regime will launch a military venture," the Russian top diplomat noted.
"Under the conditions when Kiev’s regime is frantically seeking some ways of distracting attention from its inability to resolve the economic and social problems of the population, to peacefully settle the conflict in Donbass according to the Minsk Agreements, the West is prompting it and in every way incites the instincts of Kiev’s leadership with regards to the use of military action in Donbass," Lavrov said.
He emphasized that all of this creates a direct threat to Russia’s security. "On November 18, at an expanded board of our ministry, President Putin talked about this and he emphasized that we don’t need conflicts yet if the West isn't able to contain Ukraine but on the contrary will egg it on, of course, we will undertake all the necessary steps for a reliable guarantee of our security," the top diplomat added.
Lately, in the West and Ukraine, the claims of an alleged possible Russian "invasion" on Ukrainian territory are being made increasingly more often. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov branded such information as an empty and groundless inflation of tension, emphasizing that Russia does not represent a threat to anyone. At the same time, he didn’t exclude the possibility of provocations in order to justify such claims and warned that the attempts to resolve the problem in southeastern Ukraine by force would have the most serious consequences.