Russia vows to stop U.S. 'from taking over Ukraine'
Two rounds of negotiations held by American, NATO and Russian officials in Geneva and Brussels did not help to alleviate the concerns of the Russian authorities regarding the NATO bloc.
“The North Atlantic Alliance is preparing an information background for deployment of its troops to Ukraine, and this poses a security threat to both Russia and European countries,” said the Chairman of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin.
"NATO seeks to take over Ukraine," he said, adding that Moscow could not allow it.
"We must do everything to preserve peace. And this issue is precisely the question of preserving peace. Because we cannot allow NATO to deploy its troops to the territory of Ukraine. This is a question of the security of our citizens, a question of the security of citizens of European states," Interfax quoted Volodin as saying.
While scaring the world with "the allegedly upcoming Russian invasion" of Ukrainian territory, the United States, according to Volodin, "acts according to the standard scheme." "First, it comes up with the image of the enemy, and then heroically fights against him. This was the case in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yugoslavia," Volodin said.
"We must do everything to preserve peace on the planet," he reiterated, adding that Russia "has something to respond" if the requirements for security guarantees are ignored.
On the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, a snap inspection of the Union State's response forces will be held in February. It will be by the joint exercises Allied Resolve-2022, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said at a briefing for foreign attachés.
“The military will prepare not only for actions within its borders, but also for solving suddenly arising tasks to localize crisis situations in any high-risk areas,” Fomin warned.
He added that a situation may arise when for general security it will be necessary to use "the entire military potential" of Russia and Belarus.