Putin warns West of military measures over Ukraine threats

He also called for "serious negotiations" on Russian security demands put to the United States and NATO during his first call with new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who in turn called for "de-escalation".Putin told defence ministry officials that if the West continued its "obviously aggressive stance" Russia would take "appropriate retaliatory military-technical measures".The United States has been sounding the alarm since mid-November that Moscow could be planning a large-scale attack on its ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine and has warned Putin of unprecedented sanctions.- 'Doorstep of our house' -Last week Moscow presented its demands to the United States and NATO, saying the alliance must not admit new members or establish military bases in ex-Soviet countries."The chancellor expressed his concern about the situation and spoke of the urgent need for de-escalation," said a statement released by Scholz's office."If this infrastructure moves further -- if US and NATO missile systems appear in Ukraine -- then their approach time to Moscow will be reduced to seven or 10 minutes," he said. That the time would be cut even shorter with hypersonic weapons, he added."We want to resolve issues by political and diplomatic means," he said.Those actions are taking place "at the doorstep of our house", said Putin.Even if Moscow receives US security guarantees, Putin said he would be wary of them because "the United States easily withdraws from all international treaties that for one reason or another become uninteresting to them"."We cannot accept the theory that is now very popular about (Ukraine joining) the EU in 30 years and NATO sometime in about 50 years," Zelensky said Tuesday.Although Kiev has for years been seeking to join the US-led alliance, Western officials have on numerous occasions said this is not on the cards any time soon.Russia denies the claims and says Kiev has mobilised half its forces to the eastern conflict zone.bur-jbr/jj...

from news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://ift.tt/3yNVwTc

December 21, 2021 at 11:46PM
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
He also called for "serious negotiations" on Russian security demands put to the United States and NATO during his first call with new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who in turn called for "de-escalation".Putin told defence ministry officials that if the West continued its "obviously aggressive stance" Russia would take "appropriate retaliatory military-technical measures".The United States has been sounding the alarm since mid-November that Moscow could be planning a large-scale attack on its ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine and has warned Putin of unprecedented sanctions.- 'Doorstep of our house' -Last week Moscow presented its demands to the United States and NATO, saying the alliance must not admit new members or establish military bases in ex-Soviet countries."The chancellor expressed his concern about the situation and spoke of the urgent need for de-escalation," said a statement released by Scholz's office."If this infrastructure moves further -- if US and NATO missile systems appear in Ukraine -- then their approach time to Moscow will be reduced to seven or 10 minutes," he said. That the time would be cut even shorter with hypersonic weapons, he added."We want to resolve issues by political and diplomatic means," he said.Those actions are taking place "at the doorstep of our house", said Putin.Even if Moscow receives US security guarantees, Putin said he would be wary of them because "the United States easily withdraws from all international treaties that for one reason or another become uninteresting to them"."We cannot accept the theory that is now very popular about (Ukraine joining) the EU in 30 years and NATO sometime in about 50 years," Zelensky said Tuesday.Although Kiev has for years been seeking to join the US-led alliance, Western officials have on numerous occasions said this is not on the cards any time soon.Russia denies the claims and says Kiev has mobilised half its forces to the eastern conflict zone.bur-jbr/jj...