Then they have to label it as an attack by Ukrainians and launch a retaliatory strike.
The announced withdrawal of Russian troops from Russia’s common border with Ukraine “is a deliberate trick” to confuse the United States and other states. It was written by the American daily The Washington Post, referring to the statements of four unnamed representatives of the American administration.
According to them, the videos released by the Russian Ministry of Defense and recording the alleged return of military personnel and equipment to the places of their permanent deployment are an attempt to disguise the real intentions of the Russian Federation.
According to the daily, two other unnamed American officials said they had intelligence information that pointed to Russia’s plans to use a chemical that would immobilize civilians and then pass it off as an attack by “Ukrainians”.
One of the officials suggested that Russia could blame the Americans for this “attack”. According to a Western intelligence official, Russia’s current activities near the border with Ukraine seem to be more than just a military exercise. “It all depends on the political decision whether to attack or not. The Russians are actively inventing casus belli, “said a source from the intelligence services.
The Washington Post recalled that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday at the UN Security Council also listed options that he said could be used as a pretext for intervention against Ukraine.
According to him, it could be a “fabricated so-called terrorist bombing in Russia”, a fake mass grave, a staged drone attack on civilians, or a “fake, or even real, chemical weapons attack.”
At the same time, the daily reminded that the American authorities have yet to present evidence, which served them as the basis of their allegations about the movements of Russian troops or about the planned operations of Russia “under a false flag”.
Russia has more than 100,000 troops and heavy weapons gathered near its border with Ukraine. The West has therefore feared in recent weeks that Russia wants to attack the neighboring country.
Moscow denies this, and although it announced on Tuesday that some troops are already moving to places of permanent deployment, Western leaders claim that the reality is the opposite: Russian troops are still growing at the borders. At the same time, they warn that an attack on Ukraine is still imminent.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplayed the West’s concerns this week, noting that the gradual transfer of troops – e.g. to the scene of joint exercises with Belarus – it took several days, so their return to the places of permanent dislocation can not be “a matter of one day”. The mentioned military exercise in Belarus, within the reach of the Ukrainian border, is to end on Sunday.
The US State Department said late last night that Blinken had agreed to meet with Russian Secretary of State Sergei Lavrov.
It will take place next week on the condition that Moscow will refrain from attacks on Ukraine, said Blinken’s spokesman Ned Price. “If the (Russians) attack in the coming days, it will be clear that they never meant it with diplomacy,” he added.