Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov extended an invitation to US secretary of state Antony Blinken for a meeting to discuss the issues related to the Ukraine crisis. US state department spokesperson Ned Price said that Blinken accepted the invitation because the US believes that diplomacy and dialogue can resolve the crisis. It also said that Blinken would meet Lavrov next week if there is no invasion of Ukraine.
Situations remained tense in Ukraine as shellings were reported in villages near eastern Ukraine. At least 20 residences were damaged by shelling attacks around the village of Stanytsia Luganska, aid agency Vostok SOS told news agency AFP. There were no casualties.
Ukraine said that it does not want to attack the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine – from where the shelling has been reported – citing that Russia will see it as a provocative measure and use it as an excuse to attack Ukraine. Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that Ukraine will not give Russia any reason to attack Ukraine. Russia backs separatists insurgencies in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk and is expected to recognise them as independent states.
“Ukraine is stepping up its defences. But we have no intention of conducting military operations against (eastern separatists) or Crimea,’ the minister was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. Moscow cited its concern at the news of the unrest in areas of eastern Ukraine. “What is happening in the Donbas is very concerning and potentially very dangerous,” Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said. Both separatist forces and the Ukrainian army have exchanged allegations of breaching ceasefire between both forces. Ukraine highlighted that at least 149,000 Russian troops surround Ukraine and also pointed out that the separatist regimes are likely to support these Russian troops if they mount an invasion bid.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president will oversee military drills involving Russian “strategic forces” on Saturday. The drills will include ballistic and cruise missile launches. The southern military district and the northern and Black Sea fleets would be involved in the drills which Russia is said is a part of their ‘regular training process’.
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