Nuland: Russia is preparing like in 2014, but on a larger scale
The United States is negotiating with the Russian leadership, convincing it to withdraw troops from the borders with Ukraine. This was announced by State Department representative Victoria Nuland at a hearing in the Senate, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We don’t know if Putin is going to attack Ukraine, but we do know that he is building up the capability along the border. And this is happening in the same way as in 2014, but on a larger scale,” Nuland said.
“We are engaging with the Russian government at all levels to persuade them to stand down... President Biden has conveyed this message directly to Putin... We have warned Putin that there will be serious consequences for Russia. We will impose additional, tougher sanctions if Russia chooses the path of confrontation and military action,” the American official said.
She said that the situation around Ukraine was also discussed with European NATO members. And there, as a response to Russia’s actions, they are also announcing new sanctions against Moscow.
“If Russia attacks Ukraine, we will impose significant economic sanctions on Russia, which we have refrained from in the past,” Nuland said.
It is interesting that she mentioned the Minsk agreements, which official Kyiv considers impossible, since they mean the actual beginning of the federalization of Ukraine and are unacceptable for nationalists - advocates of Ukrainian unitarity.
“We don’t want conflicts. Diplomacy is still the best way to solve problems. The Minsk agreements continue to be a good basis for negotiations,” Nuland said.
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