The Ukrainian crisis entered a suspenseful stage on Thursday when US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan received Russia’s response to Washington’s security proposals, in which Moscow notified the US that it would be forced to respond, including using “military technical” measures, if Washington did not negotiate legally-binding security guarantees for Moscow.
“So far there is no evidence that Russia is withdrawing troops from the border with Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in...
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Also on Thursday, Russia expelled the second-highest ranking official at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Bartle Gorman, a State Department spokesperson said.
According to sources, the “military-technical” response President Vladimir Putin first mentioned in December could include an array of measures including missile and troop deployments, electronic warfare and even the use of space-based weapons systems.
The TASS news agency published a copy of Russia's written responses to US counter proposals on security. In it, Moscow said that Russia's red lines were being ignored and that it was alarmed by growing US and NATO military activity near Russia.
There was no change to Russia’s previous demands, namely, that Ukraine must not join the NATO family — a foothold that neither Washington nor Brussels have so far refused to relinquish.
Ukraine however does not want to abandon its NATO aspirations. “Membership in NATO is our goal, and we work day and night to get there,” Ambassador Oksana Markarova told CNN.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian-backed occupation forces shelled a village in the Luhansk region, hitting a kindergarten. Two...
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