The Ukraine crisis has worsened as the NATO alleges that Russia has deployed 20,000 troops along the border of Ukraine and Moscow has banned food import from the West. Fresh fighting has claimed several lives on both sides - Ukraine and the separatists. This followed NATO chief Anders Rasmussen's warning to Kremlin to "pull back from the brink" and the allegation by the Western nations that Russia could be preparing to send troops across the border in Ukraine in the guise of a humanitarian mission.
Meanwhile, Russian president Vladimir Putin met with his security council to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine, especially the "massive" humanitarian catastrophe. This meeting promoted fears in the West that Moscow may send troops across the border. The NATO chief has made no bones of the fact that his organisation viewed the situation with great concern. He has asked Kremlin to pull back the estimated 20,000 troops. The NATO chief visited "Kiev", capital of Ukraine, in a demonstration of solidarity with the pro-West nation in the face of threats from Russia.
The Ukraine crisis is getting more and more complicated. The recent shooting down of the Malaysian passenger plane has only added fuel to the already explosive condition.
Russia has not recognised the new president of Ukraine although it had said before that the verdict of the May 25 elections would be honoured. This has infuriated the Kiev government, which accuses Moscow of unleashing a global propaganda not to recognise the polls that elected pro-West tycoon Petro Poroshenko as the new leader of the country. The pro-Russian activists continue to defy the government in several places in the eastern Ukraine. Â
The trouble started following the annexation of Crimea, an autonomous region of Ukraine, by Russia. Moscow insists that Crimea was originally a part of it and the strategically important peninsula has only come back to its fold. The incorporation appears irreversible, but Kremlin's covert support to pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine dashes any hope for a settlement of the larger crisis involving Ukraine. The downing of the Malaysian plane with all the passengers and crew members dead, allegedly by the Moscow-backed separatists, added a dangerous element in the crisis. Russia and the separatists, however, deny their involvement in the incident.
Earlier, Russia warned Ukraine of "catastrophic consequences" unless it halted a military operation against the "pro-Moscow" gunmen in eastern Ukraine in an indication that Kremlin is moving closer of direct involvement in the months-old crisis. On the other hand, the United States and its European allies have threatened Moscow with more sanctions and other forms of punishment if Russia continues its "designs" to destabilise Ukraine. The situation worsened when Russian president Vladimir Putin said the Geneva accord among the US, Ukraine, EU and his country on certain matters relating to the crisis is "now dead".
Tensions and  hostilities continue to characterise the Ukraine scenario with the United States and the European Union stepping up pressure on Moscow over the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
Tensions on the ground further spiked when a pro-Russian separatists clashed with the Ukraine troops and the rebels seized several towns in clear demonstration of the worsening condition in the Ukraine. Moscow seems to be in no mood to control its supporters in eastern Ukraine and maintains that the rebels are acting on their own taking a pro-Russian stance. The US and the EU have flatly rejected Moscow's claim
 Moscow says that it has no plan to invade Ukraine, but the West is hardly assured by such protestations and continues to mount pressure on Russia through economic and other forms of restrictions.
More than 1300 people were killed and nearly 2,90,000 forced to flee their homes until August 09 over the last four months in what the Red Cross has described as a civil war in eastern Ukraine.
zaglulchowdhury@yahoo.com
Ukraine crisis worsens as sanctions war heats up
Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury | Published: August 11, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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