- The Russian Kremlin has called recent statements by officials on the war in Ukraine “dangerous.”
- French President Emmanuel Macron said he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine.
- British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during a visit to kyiv the same day that Ukraine would be able to use long-range British weapons to strike targets in Russia.
Recent statements by the French President and the British Foreign Secretary on the war in Ukraine are “dangerous” and will aggravate international tensions around the conflict, the Kremlin spokesperson said on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in an interview published Thursday, reiterated an earlier comment that he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, meanwhile, said during a visit to kyiv the same day that Ukraine would be able to use long-range British weapons to strike targets in Russia – a possibility which some other NATO arms supplying countries have balked at.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Macron’s comment a “very important and very dangerous statement.” Macron’s remarks about France’s possible direct involvement in the conflict represent a “very dangerous trend”, he said.
KIEV FORCES ARE AGAINST CONCERTED RUSSIAN PUSH INTO EASTERN UKRAINE, MILITARY OFFICIAL SAYS
Cameron’s statement on Ukraine’s right to use supplied British weapons to strike facilities in Russia This is “another very dangerous statement,” Peskov told reporters.
Visitors look at a German Marder armored infantry vehicle during an exhibition of Western military equipment captured from kyiv’s forces during the fighting in Ukraine, in Moscow, May 3, 2024. Recent statements by the French president and British minister of Foreign Affairs on the war in Ukraine are “dangerous” and will worsen international tensions around the conflict, the Kremlin spokesperson said on Friday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
“This is a direct escalation of tensions around the Ukrainian conflict, which could potentially threaten European security, the entire European security architecture,” Peskov said.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 significantly increased tensions between the Kremlin and NATO countries. Alliance countries have provided much of the military hardware that kyiv uses to fight Russia, ensuring that tensions continue to simmer. Russia, in turn, has requested help from China, Iran and North Korea, according to the United States.
As Russia puts battlefield pressure on exhausted Ukrainian forces and appears poised to launch a major offensive, this antagonism has become more acute.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday that Russian troops have captured more than 200 square miles of territory from Ukrainian forces since the start of the year.
“Groups of Russian forces continue to break through enemy strongholds along the entire line of contact,” Shoigu said during a meeting with senior military officers.
It was not possible to independently verify the claims about the battlefield.
Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that Russian forces have an overwhelming advantage in troops, weapons and ammunition.
Ukraine’s president and foreign minister pressed Cameron during his visit to speed up the delivery of his country’s promised military aid.
“It is important that the weapons included in the British support program announced last week arrive as soon as possible,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the X social platform.
He said armored vehicles, ammunition and missiles of different types were at the top of the list.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who also met Cameron, told X that the focus was on “accelerating military aid.”
This message was repeated by the deputy head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Major General Vadym Skibitsky, who said that Russia was trying to exploit its current advantage in weapons and manpower and planned a major offensive this summer.
“Our problem is very simple: we don’t have weapons,” Skibitsky was quoted as saying in an interview with The Economist published Friday.
Vital support promised by Western allies to help Ukraine push back Kremlin forces has been delayed by political disagreements in the United States and a lack of industrial capacity in Europe. This opened the door to advances for a larger and better-equipped Russian army, particularly along the front line in eastern Ukraine.
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Ukraine and its Western partners are in a race against time to deploy new military aid, including a new batch of American supportin the coming weeks and prevent Russia from gaining further ground.
The pressing concern right now is keeping the strategic hilltop town of Chasiv Yar in the east out of Russian hands. Capturing the city would provide Russia with the opportunity to attack other key cities deeper in the Donetsk region and hit important Ukrainian supply lines.
Chasiv Yar is bombarded by Russian artillery, drones and missiles. Glide bombs were also deployed. These are half-ton bombs fitted with wings and launched from planes behind Russian lines. They destroy buildings and leave huge craters, disconcerting local defenders.
Russia used a similar strategy of relentless bombing to force Ukrainian troops out of Avdiivka in February.
