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Friday 4 February 2022

Continued from Front enko said the goal was "to
Britain has divulged intelli- reinforce the border with
gence findings that it says Ukraine."
show Russia plotting to in- At the same time, Ukraine's
stall a pro-Russian puppet defense minister sought
government in Ukraine. again to project calm, say-
"We've seen these kinds of ing the probability of an
activity by the Russians in invasion was "low," and
the past, and we believe he welcomed a change
it's important when we see by U.S. officials, who have
it like this and and we can, stopped using the term "im-
to call it out," Kirby told re- minent" when describing
porters at the Pentagon. the risk of a Russian attack.
The administration has re- Oleksii Reznikov said "the
peatedly declined to de- threat exists, the risks exist,
tail evidence underlying its but they have existed since
intelligence findings. State 2014, ever since Russia has
Department spokesman become an aggressor." He
Ned Price said Thursday said "there are no grounds
the administration needed for panic, fear, flight or the
to protect sensitive sources packing of bags." The min-
and intelligence gathering ister put the number of Rus-
methods. sian troops near Ukraine at
He added "we declas- 115,000.
sify information only when Still, Stoltenberg renewed
we're confident in that in- his call for Russia to "de-
formation." escalate," and repeated
Meanwhile on Thursday, warnings from the West
Turkish President Recep that "any further Russian
Tayyip Erdogan offered to aggression would have se-
mediate talks between Rus- vere consequences and
sia and Ukraine, and NATO carry a heavy price."
warned that Moscow's mili- U.S. Army soldiers from the 18th Airborne Division board a C-17 aircraft as they deploy to Europe, NATO has no intention of
tary buildup continues, with Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 from Fort Bragg, N.C. deploying troops to Ukraine
more troops and military Associated Press should Russia invade, but it
equipment deployed to has begun to reinforce the
neighboring Belarus than at nerved Ukrainians and hurt The U.S. said the new in- call in less than a week. The defenses of nearby mem-
any time in the last 30 years. the country's economy. telligence indicates that Kremlin said in a statement ber countries — notably
Erdogan, who has close but Russian officials deny that the Russians would stage that they continued a "de- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
sometimes difficult ties with an invasion is planned. military equipment used tailed dialogue about the and Poland. The 30-nation
Putin, said Turkey was "pre- Zelenskyy welcomed Erdo- by Ukraine, including a key situation around Ukraine" military alliance also plans
pared to undertake its part gan's offer and thanked weapon supplied by Tur- and added that Putin drew to beef up its defenses in
in order to end the crisis be- him for his "firm and consis- key, a NATO member, to Macron's attention to "pro- the Black Sea region near
tween two friendly nations tent" support. bolster the credibility of a vocative statements and Bulgaria and Romania.
that are its neighbors in the The crisis has put Turkey in fake attack. actions" by the Ukrainian In Helsinki, Finnish leaders
Black Sea." a fix, leaving it in a position Russia would possibly use leadership. held talks with European
"I have stressed that we where it has to balance its Turkish-made Bayraktar At NATO headquarters, Commission President Ur-
would be happy to host a growing partnership with drones as part of the fake Secretary-General Jens sula von der Leyen about
summit meeting at a lead- Ukraine with its difficult rela- operation, according to Stoltenberg warned that a letter that Russian Foreign
ership level or technical tions with Moscow. Ankara, a senior administration of- Russian troop numbers in Minister Sergey Lavrov sent
level talks," Erdogan said which has historic ties to ficial who was not autho- Belarus are likely to climb to to several countries on the
after about three hours of Ukraine and ethnic bonds rized to comment and 30,000, with the backing of "indivisibility of security" in
talks with Ukrainian Presi- with its Crimean Tatar com- spoke on the condition special forces, advanced Europe.
dent Volodymyr Zelenskyy. munity, strongly opposed of anonymity. The drones fighter jets, Iskander short- Lavrov argues that the U.S.
"Instead of fueling the fire, Russia's 2014 annexation of have been used by Ukraine range ballistic missiles and and NATO misunderstand
we act with the logical aim Crimea. At the same time, against pro-Russia separat- S-400 ground-to-air missile the concept — which es-
of reducing the tensions." Turkey would be reluctant ists in the Donbas region, a defense systems. sentially means that the
Russia has amassed more to joint in any sanctions move that angered Mos- "Over the last days, we security of one European
than 100,000 troops near against Russia. With a strug- cow, which has made have seen a significant country is linked to the se-
Ukraine's northern and east- gling economy, the coun- clear it is strongly opposed movement of Russian mili- curity of them all — and he
ern borders, raising con- try has pinned its hopes on to Ukraine being equipped tary forces into Belarus. This has demanded replies from
cern that Moscow might tourism revenue, especially with the technology. is the biggest Russian de- countries that signed a key
invade again, as it did in from visitors from Russia. Putin and French President ployment there since the security document encom-
2014. The troop presence It also relies on Russia for Emmanuel Macron spoke Cold War," Stoltenberg told passing it to clarify the issue.
and uncertainty have un- much of its natural gas. again Thursday, their third reporters. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna
Russian Defense Minister Marin said there was no "big
LIKE US ON Sergei Shoigu was in Minsk news" in the letter but that it
checking
Thursday,
warranted a reply. Von der
on
on preparations for major Leyen said the commission,
Russia-Belarus war games the EU's executive branch,
scheduled for Feb. 10 to will coordinate a response,
Feb. 20. Shoigu met with even though Lavrov insist-
Belarusian President Alex- ed that only countries and
Facebook.com/arubatoday/ ander Lukashenko. Speak- not organizations should
ing about the drills, Lukash-
answer.q