FOREIGN MINISTER: RUSSIA WON'T START WAR IN UKRAINE
Jan 28, 2022
By Bob Komsic
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While U.S. President Joe Biden’s warned his Ukrainian counterpart that there’s a ”distinct possibility” Russia could take military action next month, Moscow says it won’t start a war.
”We don’t want a war,” says Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
”But we won’t let our interests be rudely trampled on and ignored.”
The Kremlin’s repeatedly denied it plans to invade, but has also constantly demanded NATO promise Ukraine will never be allowed to join the alliance and that NATO roll back troop and military equipment deployments across Eastern Europe.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says Russia’s assembled enough along Ukraine’s borders to provide it with a range of options, including moves short of a full-scale invasion.
Ukraine’s defence minister says the total number of Russian troops is comparable to the build up last spring when Moscow eventually pulled back troops after military exercises.