Russia stresses Ukraine provocations while NATO talks unity

NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg and U.S.
Secretaries of State and Defense Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin held a press
conference in Brussels on April 14. The three spoke about Ukraine and the buildup
of Russian forces around it. They repeatedly emphasized the unity of the NATO
alliance’s members in their concern over the situation. When asked about
possible responses, however, the three deflected from addressing the issue.

On April 14, the Secretary of Russian Security
Council, Nikolay Patrushev, spoke about the current climate from Sevastopol,
pravda.com.ua reports. He claimed that Kyiv was preparing to launch
provocations and attacks in Russia. The claims come after Russian President
Vladimir Putin warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel on April 8 about
Ukrainian provocations and attacks on the line of contact in south-east
Ukraine.

James Hydzik: It’s
possible that the repeated warnings from NATO and individual countries prompted
Russian Defense Minister Shoygu to announce a date for the end of exercises
along the Ukrainian border. And this, perhaps, might signal the reduced
possibility of a massive assault by Russian forces across the line of contact.
But the problem is that the Russian side has been signaling about the use of
provocations for weeks, and these signals have been increasingly shrill.
Patrushev is known for replacing Putin as head of the FSB month before the
Russian apartment bombings that Alexandr Litvinenko claimed were FSB
provocations and which preceded the 1999 Chechen war.

For all the allied statements regarding Russian troop
build ups and aggression, very little has been said officially outside of
central Europe regarding the consequences of provocations preceding the use of
irregular troops. This failure could lead to disastrous results.