EU Diplomacy Chief Borrell Doubts the Possibility of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Europe is not on the verge of a full-scale war, said the EU diplomacy chief. Moscow is putting pressure on Kiev because it wants to participate in negotiations on security in Europe, Josep Borrell believes. EU Diplomacy Chief Josep Borrell at a press conference in Brest, France The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, does not consider Russia’s invasion of Ukraine possible. “I would not say that we are on the verge of a full-scale war in the style of the Second World War. Because I do not believe that Russia will invade Ukraine - as Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941,” the EU diplomacy chief said on Tuesday, February 8, at an event held by the French Embassy in the United States. Borrell called the conflict over Ukraine “the most critical moment since the Cold War”. In his opinion, Moscow is putting pressure on Kiev in order to create an excuse to “sit down and talk” about what is important for it, that is, to participate in negotiations on security in Europe. It is not Ukraine that is important to Russia, but the new security architecture in Europe, the head of European diplomacy added. The crisis in relations between the West and Russia Tensions between the West and Russia have grown in recent months. Since the second half of 2021, the Russian Federation has transferred more than 100 thousand servicemen to the annexed Crimea and to the border with Ukraine, explaining this with military exercises. Western leaders fear that Moscow is preparing for war. The Kremlin denies plans to invade Ukraine and accuses the West of arming it and conducting maneuvers near the Russian borders. The January series of negotiations between Russia and the United States, NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ended in vain. Western powers are calling on Russia to withdraw troops from the border of Ukraine and threaten unprecedented sanctions. DW