NATO sends more ships, fighter jets to Eastern Europe as Russia masses troops on Ukraine border
Civilian participants in a Kyiv Territorial Defense unit train on Jan. 22 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
By Robyn Dixon and David L. Stern
Today at 5:42 a.m. EST|Updated today at 9:43 a.m. EST
MOSCOW — NATO said Monday it would send additional ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe as Britain ordered some diplomats and their families to leave Ukraine, amid growing alarm that Russia may invade as it masses tens of thousands of troops near the border.
The moves came after the United States on Sunday ordered families of diplomats to leave Kyiv and authorized nonessential diplomatic staff to leave. The State Department also cautioned American citizens to consider leaving Ukraine, with U.S. officials warning that an attack could happen “at any time.”
NATO said Monday its members are “putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to NATO deployments in eastern Europe, reinforcing Allied deterrence and defence as Russia continues its military build-up in and around Ukraine.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was watching NATO’s moves and President Vladimir Putin was “taking measures to ensure that our security and our interests are properly protected.”
“Unfortunately, we live in such an aggressive environment. Unfortunately, we are all reading reports that NATO is making certain decisions,” Peskov said. “This is the reality in which we exist.”
State Department orders U.S. Embassy staff families to leave Ukraine
On Jan. 23, the State Department ordered diplomats' families to depart its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, due to the "continued threat of Russian military actions." (Reuters)
State Department orders diplomats' families to leave U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, citing ‘threat of Russian military action’
Russia has continued to rapidly scale up its military presence near Ukraine and in Belarus to unprecedented levels in recent days, according to military analysts. As Russia massed forces near Ukraine, it made a series of sweeping demands to the United States and NATO last month, including that Ukraine be barred from joining the alliance, a condition that NATO officials ruled out. Diplomatic talks have failed to resolve the crisis.
Russian officials have repeatedly denied any plan to invade Ukraine and asserted that Russia has a right to move troops and hold military exercises on its own territory. Russian and Belarusian officials have announced joint military exercises in Belarus next month, raising Western fears of a possible ground attack on northern Ukraine from Belarus, and Russian military officials announced a naval exercise involving 20 vessels from the Baltic Fleet.
“I welcome Allies contributing additional forces to NATO,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. “NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all Allies, including by reinforcing the eastern part of the Alliance.”
Peskov blamed the United States and NATO for the escalation of tensions over Ukraine, accusing them of stoking “informational hysteria” against Russia. He complained of “lies and fakes” coming from Western officials.
“I want to draw your attention to the fact that all of this is not happening because of what we, Russia, are doing. It is all happening because of what the United States [and] NATO are doing and because of the information they are spreading,” Peskov told journalists.
He said the West’s “provocative hysterical actions” have also caused uncertainty and pessimism in global markets.
Peskov also accused Ukraine of boosting its forces along the line of contact that divides Kyiv-controlled Ukraine from two unrecognized separatist republics, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. The regions, backed by Russia, split from Ukraine in 2014 after Moscow annexed Crimea. The resulting conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 13,000 people, continues.
The threat of a Ukraine attack against the regions was “now very high,” Peskov claimed.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said that Kyiv had repeated many times that “Ukraine is committed to peace and diplomacy, and does not plan any military attacks.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko accused Ukraine of moving forces to its northern border with Belarus and threatened to further bolster the Belarusian side of the border.
“We just want to protect our southern border,” he said, speaking at a meeting with the head of the Belarusian border guards, Anatoly Lappo, BelTA state news agency reported.
Australia also ordered family members of diplomats in Ukraine to leave because of the security situation and warned Australian citizens to depart, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne told Australian officials to send assistance, including support to help Kyiv protect against cyberattacks to help Ukraine defend itself, according to the report.
European Union president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday announced 1.2 billion euros ($1.35 billion) in emergency aid to help Kyiv meet financing needs “due to the conflict.”
Despite the escalation, the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Monday that E.U. countries would not scale back staffing at embassies or send diplomatic families home.
“We are not going to do the same thing because we don’t know any specific reasons,” Borrell told journalists before a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to join online, Reuters reported. “Negotiations are going on,” Borrell added.
Members of the 27-member bloc have been split on what sanctions should be on the table and whether to send defense weapons to Ukraine.
German officials Monday ruled out any change to Berlin’s decision not to supply Kyiv with defensive weapons but Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin was working with Washington and E.U. members on potential joint sanctions should Russia invade.
The German Foreign Ministry said Monday that families of German diplomats were given the option of leaving Ukraine, but diplomats would stay. “This is the appropriate measure in the current situation,” said spokesman Christofer Burger.
Nikolenko, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Monday the U.S. move to send home some diplomats was premature and overly cautious, given that there has been no material change to Ukraine’s security situation.
“While we respect the right of foreign states to ensure the security of their diplomatic missions, we consider such step by the American side to be premature and sign of excess caution,” he said in a statement. “In fact, there have been no cardinal changes in the security situation recently,” he added, noting that the concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine’s borders began last April.
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Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, said the decisions by the United States and Britain to scale back embassy staff were “worrying” but added that American business executives in Ukraine were doing “business as usual,” while making contingency plans.
“But I think, you know, it still is hoping for the best but preparing for what may come,” Hunder said.
The U.S. Embassy has announced a virtual town hall to update American citizens on the situation Tuesday.
Putin has kept U.S. and NATO officials on edge, claiming Russia is the victim of Western aggression and threatening a “military-technical” response.
A whirlwind of diplomatic efforts among United States and NATO officials and Russian officials in recent weeks has not resolved the impasse.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Monday described the U.S. decision to authorize nonessential staff to leave as “strange.”
“Their information policy agenda is strange and unwise,” Zakharova told independent Echo of Moscow radio. “They’ve been shooting off their reports one after another, but all of them have missed.” She said Russia’s embassy in Kyiv is operating normally, disputing Western media reports that staffing had been reduced.
Earlier, Zakharova accused Washington, not Moscow, of preparing possible “military provocations” in Ukraine in a Telegram post.
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She speculated that Washington and its allies were aiming to “prepare” Western public opinion for military action.
Explaining the decision to order diplomatic families to leave, the State Department said that Russia was “conducting disinformation operations and fomenting unrest” in Ukraine. It said it was unclear whether Putin has decidedto invade, “but he is building the military capacity along Ukraine’s borders to have that option ready at any time.”
In recent days, the United States and Britain have aired allegations of two separate Russian plans to destabilize the Ukrainian government and install a pro-Moscow government. Russian officials have denied the allegations.
Britain’s Foreign Office accused Russian intelligence Sunday of plotting to install a pro-Moscow government in Kyiv and name former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Murayev as a possible puppet leader. Murayev denied the report. Russia’s embassy in London called on Britain to “stop foolish rhetorical provocations.”
Stern reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Loveday Morris, reporting from Berlin, contributed.
