221
 |
| Tank crews take part in military exercises held by a mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces outside Kharkiv |
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree on Tuesday to boost his armed forces by 100,000 troops over three years and raise soldiersโ pay, but said this did not mean war with Russia was imminent.
Zelenskiy urged lawmakers to stay calm and avoid panic as he prepared to host the leaders of the Netherlands, Britain and Poland โ all NATO members โ as part of efforts to defuse tension with Russia and shore up international support for Kyiv.
Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraineโs borders, while denying plans to invade โ an action that the United States and its allies have warned would trigger tough sanctions.
The West last week formally rejected Russian demands to bar Ukraine from ever joining NATO and pull out NATO forces from eastern Europe, while expressing willingness to talk about arms control and confidence-building measures.
Russia has not yet signalled its next move, and the Kremlin reiterated on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin would respond โwhen he considers it necessaryโ.
Putin said last week the United States and NATO had not addressed Moscowโs main security demands but Russia was ready to keep talking. On Tuesday he was due to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and hold a news conference at 1300 GMT.
โWE MUST BE UNITEDโ
Ukraineโs Zelenskiy said he signed the decree on expanding the armed forces โnot because we will soon have a warโฆ but so that soon and in the future there will be peace in Ukraineโ.
Despite the Russian troop build-up, Zelenskiy has repeatedly pushed back against warnings by the United States and other NATO allies that Russia could attack Ukraine at any moment.
โWe must be united in domestic politics. You can be in opposition to the government, but you canโt be in opposition to Ukraine,โ Zelenskiy said.
โYou can despise โฆ the government, the president, but you canโt despise your own people, sow panic in order to reap political gains, keep people in a state of alarm.โ
There are currently nearly 250,000 people in Ukraineโs armed forces, compared to Russiaโs overall strength of around 900,000.
NATO member states have rallied round Ukraine in recent weeks, with the United States, Britain and Poland among countries offering military aid and calling for tough sanctions on Moscow if Russia launches an attack.
โWe urge Russia to step back and engage in dialogue to find a diplomatic resolution and avoid further bloodshed,โ British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in remarks released ahead of his arrival. โAs a friend and a democratic partner, the UK will continue to uphold Ukraineโs sovereignty in the face of those who seek to destroy it.โ
Any sanctions on Moscow would build on those imposed on Russia after it annexed Crimea and backed separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014, but Europeโs dependence on Russian energy supplies weakens the Westโs hand.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was due to speak to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday for the first time since Washington formally replied to Russiaโs security proposals last week.
A State Department spokesperson said on Monday the United States had received a written follow-up from Russia on the matter.
A senior diplomatic source told Russian news agency RIA the letter contained questions from Lavrov, also sent to other NATO members, on how Moscowโs counterparts understood the notion of โindivisibility of securityโ.
Moscow contends that NATOโs addition of 14 new members in eastern Europe since the Cold War poses a threat to Russia, and that NATO is violating an agreed international principle that countries should not strengthen their own security at the expense of others.
REUTERS
