© Sputnik/Konstantin MihalchevskiyRussian servicemen take part in an amphibious assault exercise
Speaking as part of an appearance on France 2 Television channel on Wednesday, Jean-Yves Le Drian gave an update on the current tensions in Eastern Europe:
"The situation is very serious - tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are near the Ukrainian border, military maneuvers involving Russian and Belarusian troops are expected near Ukraine's borders. There are all the conditions for an incursion."However, according to the official, there is currently no information about Russian President Vladimir Putin's desire to act. He pointed out that the priority at this moment should be reducing tensions in the region.
Le Drian said the last meeting of representatives from the Normandy format, which brings together negotiators from Kiev, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris in an effort to resolve the conflict in Donbass, showed "modest progress," and expressed optimism at potential further success. He emphasized:
"We can reach an agreement on Ukraine... Only political will is needed to avoid the worst."Ukrainian and Western officials have repeatedly raised concerns of an imminent invasion, citing reports that Moscow was putting its forces near the demarcation line. Russia stands accused of amassing an estimated 100,000 troops to the shared frontier.
In late January, Kiev's Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba sought to downplay fears of a looming offensive, arguing that
"at the moment, as we speak, this number is insufficient for a full-scale offensive against Ukraine along the entire Ukrainian border. They also lack some important military indicators and systems to conduct such a large full-scale offensive. We can say 100 times a day invasion is imminent, but this doesn't change the situation on the ground."There have been a number of reports about a purported Russian invasion of Ukraine in English-language outlets in recent weeks, but Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov dismissed them as "groundless" and "hysteria."
Earlier, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny said on air on the 1 + 1 TV channel that Ukrainian authorities had not developed plans to send troops to the Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea territories.
"For us the question of Crimea has not been resolved, this is our land and we will take our time to ensure that Crimea, as well as the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, return home. And we will certainly do so. way, it will depend on us. We have all the legal documents, our strategies. Do we have a strategy to return Crimea by military means? Now we have a strategy to return Crimea. How, it will be a military way, right? Be otherwise, it depends on many factors. Today I can say that this is impossible to do. How it will be tomorrow or in a year, we will see, is not such a simple thing, " said Danilov.
He made it clear that the return of the Donbass territories not controlled by Kiev is impossible by military means, as this will result in a large number of victims.
I n April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, which declared independence after a coup in Kiev in February 2014. According to the latest UN figures, some 13,000 people are victims of the conflict. The question of the solution of the situation in Donbass is discussed, inter alia, at the meetings of the contact group. However, even after the ceasefire agreements, the skirmishes continue, in the DPR they announced the bombing of residential areas by Ukrainian heavy artillery.
Moscow has repeatedly asserted that Kiev does not respect the Minsk agreements and drag on negotiations to resolve the conflict.
Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum held there in March 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimean voters and 95.6% of Sevastopol residents voted to join Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea its own territory, but temporarily occupied. The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the inhabitants of Crimea democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter, voted for reunification with Russia. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the question of Crimea is "finally closed" .