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The most dangerous moment in the Ukraine crisis[/B] was described by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the next few days from Brussels, where he visited NATO headquarters on Thursday and met with its secretary general.
The statements came on the same day that Russia launched large-scale military exercises north and south of Ukraine - in Belarus and the Black Sea until February 20 - that effectively amount to a naval blockade of Ukraine.
The latter "responds" with its own drills, also lasting ten days, in which it tests the weapons systems it has received from the West and Turkey.
Ukraine has accused Russia[/B] of making navigation in the Black Sea virtually impossible with its drills, while the country's defence minister, Oleksi Reznikov, has called on the international community to respond by banning Russian ships from docking.
"The number of Russian forces continues to grow.The early warning time for a possible attack is constantly decreasing," noted Jens Stoltenberg for his part, agreeing on the criticality of the days.
At the same time, however, initiatives at the diplomatic level continue.
Diplomats from the four countries that make up the so-called "Normandy Shape" (Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine) met yesterday in Berlin in an attempt to explore the possibility of a summit between their leaders.
This goal, after all, was clearly set by Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Moscow, last Monday - even though Vladimir Putin made sure to put a freeze on any optimism, stating that another country is leading NATO.
Olaf Scholz also met with the leaders of the Baltic states, to whom he expressed Germany's full support, while warning Russia of serious economic and political consequences if it escalates its attack on Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Brel handed over to the Russian embassy in Brussels the response of the "27" to Moscow's proposals for "security guarantees in Europe."
It will be recalled that both the US and NATO have already given their own responses, which were not considered satisfactory by Russia.
Attention now turns to Olaf Scholz's upcoming visits to Kiev and Moscow early next week - even if few believe the German chancellor can be a catalyst for a solution.
Macron's DNA and distance from Putin
Emmanuel Macron's staff did not want under any circumstances for Moscow to acquire access to the French president's DNA and so did not agree to undergo a PCR test before his meeting with Vladimir Putin on Monday in the Kremlin.
This is the reason, according to two sources close to Macron cited by Reuters, that the two were found sitting so far apart, on the edges of a large table, giving rise to a variety of comments about underestimating the French leader.
One of the sources, however, stressed that Macron had undergone a French test,
but the Russian side insisted on keeping Putin in a "health bubble".
Source: in.gr
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