PRESS RELEASE
Risk of War in Ukraine Jumps Up Further
Aug. 11, 2016 (EIRNS)—The temperature of relations between Russia and Ukraine went up several degrees, yesterday, after the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia issued a statement reporting that it had rolled up two reconnaissance and sabotage teams dispatched into Crimea by Ukrainian military intelligence and detained 7 people in the process. Two Russians, an FSB officer and a member of the Russian military, were killed in the operations, which took place over the period of Aug. 6-8.
"The aim of this subversive activity and terrorist acts was to destabilize the socio-political situation in the region ahead of preparations and the holding of elections,"
the FSB said, referring to Russia-wide parliamentary elections next month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a joint press conference with the President of Armenia yesterday, said that the incident shows that a summit meeting of the Normandy Four on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China next month, no longer makes sense. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had suggested such a meeting just a couple of days ago.
"Judging by the situation, those who seized power in Kiev back then and still hold it now, are not seeking... compromise solutions,"
Putin said.
"I think it is now clear to all that the authorities in Kiev today are not looking for a solution to the problem through negotiations, but are resorting to terror."
Ukrainian authorities have denied the Russian charge, even though one of the arrested confessed on Russian television today. Poroshenko also called for the matter of Crimea to be discussed at the UN Security Council, (which it was today), and ordered that all Ukrainian military units near the border with Crimea and in the Donbass region be put on the highest state of alert, Sputnik reports.
"Russia has a record of frequently levying false accusations at Ukraine to deflect attention from its own illegal actions," said U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt on Twitter, while a NATO spokesman told Sputnik that the Russian accusation is simply unproven.
