Ukraine urges West to be ‘vigilant and firm’ with Russia

GBNEWS24DESK//

Ukraine on Saturday urged the West to remain “vigilant and firm” in its talks with Russia, as US President Joe Biden announced a small troop deployment to eastern Europe amid fears Moscow could order the invasion of Ukraine.

Britain is set to double the NATO force with troops, weapons, warships and jets, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday, as Washington warned the Kremlin had massed enough troops and hardware at the border to threaten the whole of Ukraine, reports AFP.

As top US defence officials have called for further diplomatic efforts to avert a “horrific” conflict, Western leaders have scrambled to defuse the crisis by reaching out to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while also trying to keep the pressure up by vowing unprecedented sanctions should he send in his forces.

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged his Western partners to avoid stirring “panic” over the massive Russian troop buildup, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on the need for de-escalation.

According to a Macron aide, Putin told the French leader in a call lasting more than an hour that he had “no offensive plans”.

In Washington, Biden nevertheless said he would soon send a small number of US troops to bolster the NATO presence in eastern Europe as tensions remain heightened.

The United States already has tens of thousands of troops stationed across mostly Western Europe.

France said Saturday that it was planning to send hundreds of troops to eastern NATO ally Romania as part of a deployment first touted by Macron earlier this month.

Meanwhile Britain’s offer — set to be made to NATO next week — could see London double the approximately 1,150 UK troops currently in eastern European countries and “defensive weapons” sent to Estonia, Johnson’s office said late Saturday.