The conflict on the eastern border of Ukraine and Russia is to a certain extent in line with Western interests. This was announced on Tuesday, April 20, by the former head of the military intelligence of Ukraine, Colonel-General Igor Smeshko, on the air of the Nash TV channel.
“At the moment, the West does not have strategies with regard to Ukraine and in relation to Russia,” Smeshko said.
He noted that Ukraine can rely exclusively on itself and it should pay attention to its first weaknesses, namely the problems with corruption and the creation of economic stability, which will fully correspond to the real potential of the country.
“Neither the United States nor the European countries will fight for us. No need to have illusions, “Gazeta.ru quotes Smeshko as saying.
On the eve of April 19, it became known that the Ukrainian party “Servant of the People” in the Verkhovna Rada demanded that the President of Ukraine terminate diplomatic relations with Russia.
The parliament also proposed to apply to the countries of the Budapest Memorandum for help in the temporary deployment of military personnel to the territory of Ukraine.
In turn, the press service of the US State Department on Monday, April 19, published a statement in which Washington expressed its concern over Moscow’s intentions to suspend the passage of foreign ships into the Black Sea.
The American diplomatic department considered such an action an example of “unprovoked escalation as part of Moscow’s ongoing campaign to undermine and destabilize the situation in Ukraine.” It is clarified that the US is particularly concerned about reports of a build-up of Russian military power on the eastern border with Ukraine.
On April 12, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Russia poses no threat to anyone. And a few days earlier, a Kremlin spokesman noted that the movement of Russian troops across Russian territory should not bother other countries.
Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated as a result of a coup d’etat in Ukraine in 2014 and the return of Crimea to the Russian Federation. At the same time, Kiev launched a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’etat and the new Ukrainian government. A number of countries, including Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union, blamed the incident on Russia and imposed sanctions, but Moscow has repeatedly declared its innocence in this conflict and called on Kiev to de-escalate.