BERLIN, February 8. /TASS/. Further violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unacceptable and may lead to serious consequences for Russia, but the West is seeking dialogue, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters at a joint news conference with his French and Polish counterparts.
"Our common goal is to prevent a war in Europe," he said, adding that "movements of Russian troops towards the Ukrainian border are extremely concerning" and the three states were united in their view of the situation.
"Further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unacceptable and will lead to serious consequences for Russia: political, economic and most likely geostrategic ones," the German leader said.
"Our present-day aspirations within the framework of the Weimar Triangle (Germany, France, Poland) are the following: first of all, we want to achieve de-escalation of this tense situation, we are in the need of negotiations and a solution," he continued. "We are united by one goal - to preserve peace in Europe through diplomacy, clear signals and readiness to act jointly."
Concerns over Moscow’s alleged preparations for an invasion into Ukraine have been increasingly announced in the West and in Kiev recently. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these statements as an empty and groundless escalation of tension, emphasizing that Russia posed no threat to anyone. At the same time, the Kremlin press secretary did not exclude some possible provocations to justify such claims and warned that the attempts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict by force would carry extremely serious consequences.