Russia “openly” threatens the destruction of Ukraine, according to Kiev

Russia open threat of destruction to Ukrainesaid on Thursday the head of the Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kuleba, amid strong tensions with Moscow.

“They openly threaten Ukraine with a war and with destroying the Ukrainian state”, declared the minister during a joint press conference with his three counterparts from the Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia), who traveled to Kiev to express their solidarity.

“We condemn the worsening of the situation (caused) by Russia and the actions and statements of Moscow that wants to increase military tension and weigh down diplomatic efforts”, the minister added.

“The red line for Ukraine is the border of its state. If Russia violates this red line, it will suffer” warned Kuleba, who called on Western countries to impose new sanctions on Moscow if this scenario occurs.

Kiev fears that the Russian authorities will try to provoke a pretext justifying a military intervention by Russia in eastern Ukraine.

However, the Kremlin defends that it “does not threaten anyone” and denounces Ukrainian “provocations”.

Russia deployed tens of thousands of soldiers to the border with Ukraine and on the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014 to the Russian Federation.

According to Moscow, these are “military exercises” in response to the “threatening” actions of NATO, which the Ukrainian authorities want to integrate.