The European Union denounced that Russia has already mobilized 150,000 soldiers to the border with Ukraine and in Crimea

The concentration of troops ordered by Russia on the border with Ukraine and in Crimea – the Ukrainian region annexed by Moscow in 2014 – is the “largest registered” in that region and amounts to about 150,000 soldiers, denounced this Monday Josep Borrell, high representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union (EU).

According to the head of European diplomacy, the military deployment implies that “The risk of further escalation is evident.” “The deployment continues with more military resources and field hospitals. It is the largest deployment of the Russian Army on the Ukrainian border ”. And he reiterated that the EU will not recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, ”he said.

The statements took place within the framework of a meeting that the foreign ministers of the 27 countries of the European Union began this Monday a meeting by videoconference to discuss the dramatic escalation of tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

“This military reinforcement must cease and we ask Russia to initiate a de-escalation”demanded the head of European diplomacy, who sees with “great concern” the development of events on the Ukrainian border, since the maneuvers involve a significant number of troops and that means that “a spark may jump.”

On the day, the European foreign ministers even added to the videoconference the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba.

The senior Ukrainian official even presented on Twitter a plan to convince Russia to interrupt the escalation of tensions. For Kuleba, “The key element is the preparation of a new series of sector sanctions. Individual sanctions are no longer sufficient ”.

The EU expressed to the Kiev official its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and has insisted that it will increase “diplomatic efforts” to reduce tension, But as the head of European diplomacy has recognized, at the moment there are no proposals to apply sanctions against Russia. “We are not heading towards new sanctions for now. It is not what is outlined ”on the horizon, he pointed.

“Things can change, but the situation is what I am explaining,” said the Spanish politician at the end of the meeting.

In the same vein, the Spanish head of diplomacy expressed, Arancha González Laya, when saying that sanctions “are not an end in themselves”, although “if there are actions on the part of Russia that seem to us that they need a response, this is what we are giving them.”

Like González Laya, the German owner, Heiko Maas, said Russia must “switch from provocation to cooperation”: “The territorial integrity of Ukraine is not in dispute. This has become clear in the debate with Kuleba, ”he exorcised.

Ukraine, for its part, announced on Monday the expulsion of a Russian diplomat after being declared “persona non grata” in response to such an action against a Ukrainian consul. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent today a note declaring ‘persona non grata’ to a counselor of the Russian embassy in Kiev,” he told the agency. AFP the foreign spokesman, Oleg Nikolenko.

“You have 72 hours to leave the territory of our country,” he added.

On Saturday, Russia had announced the expulsion of a Ukrainian consul in Saint Petersburg, briefly detained by the security services (FSB), whom they accused of having tried to obtain secret information.

Kiev protested this “illegal detention”, and “completely denying” the veracity of these accusations against Consul Oleksander Sossoniuk.

With information from AFP and Europa Press

KEEP READING: