Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and stepped up military exercises in the region.

Moscow denies it is planning an attack, but the United States and its NATO allies fear Russia is planning war — and is preparing its own.

Below is information on international tensions in Ukraine, a crisis reminiscent of the Cold War.

America Says No

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had made no concessions to Russia’s key demands on Ukraine and NATO in its long-awaited written response to Russia in Moscow on Wednesday.

Blinken said U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan’s response to the Russian Foreign Ministry did not abandon “core principles” such as NATO’s policy of open membership and the alliance’s military presence in Eastern Europe.

Blinken said the document made it clear that the United States stood by its often stated position. “No change, no change,” he said. However, he said the written response to Russia also contained a “serious” diplomatic approach to de-escalating rising tensions in Ukraine by addressing Russia’s concerns on other issues.

The U.S. response came as Russia warned that it would quickly take “retaliatory measures” if the U.S. and its allies rejected its security demands and continued with an “aggressive” policy toward Ukraine.

Russia demands assurances that NATO will never recognize Ukraine and other ex-Soviet states as members, and that NATO reduces troop deployments in ex-Soviet bloc countries that Moscow still sees as its sphere of interest

What did the Ukrainian leader say?

As tensions escalated, Ukrainian officials tried to calm tensions.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said on Wednesday that while the Russian army’s ensemble near Ukraine poses a threat, “their numbers are now insufficient for a large-scale offensive.”

“They’re still missing some key military elements and systems to launch a massive, full-scale offensive,” Kuleba told reporters.

He also noted that raising the alarm may have been the purpose in itself. He said Russia wanted to destabilize Ukraine by “spreading panic, increasing pressure on Ukraine’s financial system and launching cyber attacks.”

What was the atmosphere like on the Ukrainian front?

Soldiers and civilians in eastern Ukraine are waiting helplessly to see if war will come.

They understand that their fate is being decided by politicians in far-flung capitals. Even politicians in their capital, Kiev, have found themselves on the brink of several rounds of high-stakes diplomacy, with no breakthrough so far.

The war-weary region has been fighting pro-Russian separatist fighters since 2014. The region is close to where Russia is amassing tens of thousands of soldiers, which U.S. President Joe Biden said could spark the largest invasion since World War II.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times