—Military alliance deploys troops, weapons, ships, jets
–Boris warns against ‘disastrous’ invasion
—Moscow accuses the West of ‘hysteria’
Foreign Desk Report
BRUSSELS: NATO allies have put forces on standby and sent ships and fighter jets to bolster Europe’s eastern defences as tensions soar over Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine.
The military alliance’s move, announced on Monday, came as the United Kingdom began withdrawing staff from its embassy in Kyiv as fears persist of an imminent Russian invasion. Britain’s move came after the United States took similar action.
The UK’s foreign office said in a statement that it was pulling out “some embassy staff and dependants” in response to “the growing threat from Russia”.
Tensions in Ukraine are high following Russia’s massing of some 100,000 troops near its neighbour. The West says Moscow, which is angered by the growing relationship between Kyiv and NATO, is preparing to attack Ukraine.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied planning to make an incursion, but the Russian military already took a chunk of Ukrainian territory when it seized Crimea and backed separatist forces who took control of large parts of eastern Ukraine eight years ago.
UK’s Johnson warns against ‘disastrous’ invasion
Johnson has said that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a “disastrous step” by Moscow.
“We need to make it very clear to the Kremlin, to Russia, that that would be a disastrous step,” he told broadcasters, adding an incursion would be a “painful, violent and bloody business”.
Asked whether he thought an invasion was now imminent, Johnson said intelligence was “pretty gloomy on this point”.
“I don’t think it’s by any means inevitable now, I think that sense can still prevail,” he said.
Moscow accuses the West of ‘hysteria’
Moscow has accused the US and its allies of escalating East-West tensions by announcing plans to boost NATO forces in Eastern Europe and evacuate the families of diplomats from the US embassy in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of spreading information filled with “hysteria” and “laced with lies” and said the probability of military conflict in eastern Ukraine being initiated by the Ukrainian side was higher than ever.
He claimed Kyiv has deployed a large number of troops near the borders of breakaway regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists, indicating it is preparing to attack them. Ukraine has repeatedly denied having any plans to do so.
