Russia and Belarus launched joint military drills on Thursday, scheduled to continue until February 20. The exercises have raised concerns in Western countries, with fears that Moscow is plotting a major escalation in the conflict in Ukraine. Follow the day's events as they unfolded.
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02:25 am Paris time
Brussels accuses Moscow of trying to divide Europeans
The European Union on Thursday accused Russia of trying to divide EU members by sending letters to individual countries seeking clarification of their stance on a principle of international security.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he had responded to the letters sent by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to several European countries asking them to give their interpretation of the doctrine of indivisible security.
Borrell said he had answered on behalf of the entire European bloc.
“The EU has a common foreign and security policy and our aim is to act united on all issues of key common interest.
“This includes also coordinating replies to letters, as called for,” he said in a statement, saying his move had “unanimous” backing among the EU’s 27 members.
Lavrov had specifically asked that the countries he approached reply in their own name and not that of the EU.
02:20 am Paris time
Ukraine, Russia say no breakthrough at Berlin talks
Russia and Ukraine said they had failed to reach any breakthroughs in a day of talks with French and German officials aimed at ending an eight-year separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The lack of progress marked a setback for efforts to defuse the wider Ukraine crisis in which Russia has massed more than 100,000 soldiers near Ukraine’s borders, raising fears of an invasion.
Russian envoy Dmitry Kozak told a late-night briefing after Thursday’s talks in Berlin that it had not been possible to reconcile Russia and Ukraine’s different interpretations of a 2015 agreement aimed at ending fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces.
“We did not manage to overcome this,” he said.
Ukraine’s envoy Andriy Yermak said there had been no breakthrough but both sides agreed to keep talking.
“I hope that we will meet again very soon and continue these negotiations. Everyone is determined to achieve a result,” he said.
12:15 am Paris time, February 11
Biden says US will not send troops to rescue Americans from Ukraine in event of invasion
President Joe Biden said on Thursday US citizens should leave Ukraine now and he would not send troops to rescue Americans fleeing the country if Russia invades.
“Things could go crazy quickly” in Ukraine, Biden told NBC News in an interview.
11:25 pm Paris time
US advises citizens in Ukraine to leave immediately
The United States has urged Americans in Ukraine to leave immediately due to the “increased threats of Russian military action” against Ukraine.
“Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action and Covid-19; those in Ukraine should depart now via commercial or private means,” the US State Department said in an advisory.
Russia denies planning an attack but has amassed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine.
6:30 pm Paris time
Germany's Scholz: Russia should not underestimate our unity
Germany’s new Chancellor Olaf Scholz has met with Baltic leaders in Berlin, and sent a stern warning to Russia over the escalating tensions over Ukraine.
“In this critical situation for all of us, Russia should not underestimate our unity and determination as a partner in the EU and as an ally in NATO,” Scholz told a press conference after the talks. “We take the concerns of our allies very seriously,” he said, adding: “we want peace”.
3 pm Paris time
Denmark to allow US troops on its soil
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced that her country will allow American military troops on its soil if need be as part of a new bilateral defence agreement with the US.
“The United States have reached out to Denmark, proposing a bilateral defence cooperation. The exact nature of this collaboration has not yet been defined but it could include the presence of US troops, materiel and military equipment on Danish soil,” she told reporters.
Denmark is a member of the NATO military alliance.
11:30 am Paris time
UK urges Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine border
Russia hit back at the UK’s warnings on Russian activity, saying that Russian forces were operating on their own territory, unlike UK forces in the Baltic.
Speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he could not understand British anxiety over Russia’s military drills in Belarus. He also said that he had presented several facts to Truss during their talks, which he felt had been ignored.
Truss called Russia’s bluff, saying that if the country were serious about wanting to use diplomacy to defuse the crisis it would move the thousands of troops amassed on the border with Ukraine.
"I can't see any other reason for having 100,000 troops stationed on the Ukrainian border apart from to threaten Ukraine, and if Russia is serious about diplomacy they need to move those troops and desist from the threats," Truss told a news conference in Moscow, standing alongside Lavrov.
11:15 am Paris time
'Dangerous moment for European security'
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday morning. He told the press, “This is a dangerous moment for European security. The number of Russian forces is going up. The warning time for a possible attack is going down."
Johnson said that the UK’s intelligence on the crisis “remains grim”.
"I honestly don't think a decision has yet been taken (by Moscow). But that doesn't mean that it is impossible that something absolutely disastrous could happen very soon indeed”, he added.
10:30 am Paris time
Ukraine said that Russian naval exercises near its southern coast had made navigation in the Black Sea and Azov Sea “virtually impossible”, and that Russia’s actions "show blatant disregard for the rules and principles of international law”.
The foreign ministry’s statement added, "Such aggressive actions by the Russian Federation as part of its hybrid war against Ukraine are unacceptable".
10:20 am Paris time
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Western threats towards Moscow would do nothing to ease tensions over Ukraine.
"Ideological approaches, ultimatums, threats – this is the road to nowhere," Lavrov said at the start of talks with his British counterpart Liz Truss in Moscow.
He also described his meeting with Truss as “unprecedented”. It is the first visit of a British foreign secretary to Russia since 2017.
He said that if Britain wants to improve ties with Moscow, "we will, of course, reciprocate," adding that bilateral ties were "at their lowest point in recent years".
Truss said Britain "cannot ignore" the build-up of troops on Ukraine's border or "attempts to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty".
"There is an alternative route, a diplomatic route that avoids conflict and bloodshed," she said. "I am here to urge Russia to take that path".
10:05 am Paris time
Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said at a briefing on Thursday morning that Ukraine was preparing a response to Russian navy drills in the Black Sea.
Six Russian warships were heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean for naval drills, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's Defence Ministry as saying on Tuesday, in what it said was a pre-planned movement of military resources.
9:00 am Paris time
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is in Moscow for talks with her Russian counterpart to urge the Kremlin not to attack or face "massive consequences" from Western sanctions. FRANCE 24's correspondent Nick Holdsworth says that Truss faces a potentially frosty reception at the Kremlin.
8:30 am Paris time
Russia's defence ministry said that the exercises in Belarus would centre around "suppressing and repelling external aggression."
Soldiers would practise beefing up sections of the Belarus border to block the delivery of weapons and ammunition into the country, among other scenarios, it said.
The games have exacerbated deeply strained ties between Russia and the West, which accuses Moscow of massing approximately 100,000 troops around the borders of Ukraine for a potential invasion.
Moscow and Minsk have not disclosed how many troops are participating in the drills, but the United States has said Russia was planning to dispatch 30,000 troops personnel to several regions in ex-Soviet Belarus.
Responding to Western concerns, the Kremlin has insisted that it has no intention of leaving the troops permanently on Belarusian territory.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
