WASHINGTON — The U.S. accused the Kremlin on Thursday of an elaborate plot to fabricate an attack by Ukrainian forces that Russia could use as a pretext to take military action against its neighbor.
“We’ve seen these kinds of activity by the Russians in the past, and we believe it’s important when we see it like this, and and we can, to call it out,” Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon.Kirby said that the Russians would also stage military equipment used by Ukraine and the West to bolster the credibility of the scheme.
“I have stressed that we would be happy to host a summit meeting at a leadership level or technical level talks,” Erdogan said after about three hours of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Instead of fueling the fire, we act with the logical aim of reducing the tensions.” At the same time, Turkey would be reluctant to joint in any sanctions against Russia. With a struggling economy, the country has pinned its hopes on tourism revenue, especially from visitors from Russia. It also relies on Russia for much of its natural gas needs.
At the same time, Ukraine’s defense minister sought again to project calm, saying the probability of an invasion was “low,” and he welcomed a change by U.S. officials, who have stopped using the term “imminent” when describing the risk of a Russian attack.
They said the information was unclassified. I want to see the proof.