BRUSSELS, December 23. /TASS/. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba focused on fears of Russia’s possible "invasion" of that country in a phone call, the EU External Action Service (EEAS) said in a press release on Thursday.
"On 23 December 2021, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell held a phone call with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmitry Kuleba to discuss the security situation in Eastern Europe in light of Russia’s military build-up around Ukraine," the press release says. "The military build-up has created new threats and fears of invasion."
Borrell "reaffirmed the European Union‘s firm and continued support to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity," the press release says.
"He stressed that any further military aggression against Ukraine would have massive consequences and severe costs. He underlined the need for Russia to de-escalate and fully implement the Minsk agreements," it reads.
Borrell told Kuleba that "the EU is closely coordinating with transatlantic and other like-minded partners, including in relation to the two draft treaties affecting the European security architecture presented by Russia."
"The EU remains committed to the right of every country to make its sovereign choices in foreign and security policy. High Representative Borrell and Foreign Minister Kuleba agreed to stay in close contact," the EEAS concluded.
In the meantime, the Ukrainian foreign minister wrote on his Twitter page that the security situation dominated the talks.
"We both agreed on the key principle: decisions on Ukraine’s security can only be made with Ukraine at the table, and with the EU at the table on matters of wider European security," he said.
Lately, in the West and Ukraine, the claims of an alleged possible Russian "invasion" into Ukrainian territory are being touted increasingly more often. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov branded such information as an empty and groundless escalation of tension, emphasizing that Russia does not represent a threat to anyone. That said, he did not exclude the possibility of provocations being whipped up in order to justify such claims and warned that the attempts to resolve the problem in southeastern Ukraine through the use of force would have the most serious consequences.