President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine claimed on Friday that his nation has found a conspiracy for an alleged coup planned for next week with suspected Russian assistance and that he is prepared for "escalation" with Moscow.
The President then slammed Russia, accusing it of sending "very dangerous" signals as have Western nations. In the eastern Donbas war, however, Zelensky stated that Ukraine would not initiate a military attack.
Zelensky claims he has tapes of an alleged meeting discussing a coup plot
The Ukrainian president did not go into detail about the purported conspiracy and did not accuse Russia of being involved, but he did reference audio recordings of the coup that reportedly featured Russian speakers. He said that tapes of an alleged meeting between Russian and Ukrainian authorities discussed a coup plot purportedly backed by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest tycoon with a fortune of $7.5 billion.
The Kremlin quickly rejected any involvement in a coup attempt, stating it had no plans to do so. In statements to media in Moscow on Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied the charges, NY Post reported in recent days, Kiev, Washington, and NATO have expressed worry about a possible Russian strike - a threat the Kremlin has denied as unfounded despite amassing soldiers near Ukraine's border.
Fears that a long-running conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists might flare into renewed open combat have prompted Moscow and Kiev to exchange blame for escalating tensions. Last week, the chief of Ukraine's military intelligence told Military Times that Russia had assembled around 92,000 troops on Ukraine's borders and was planning an attack by the end of January or the beginning of February.
Per Newsweek via MSN, Zelensky recently met with key European Union officials, including European Commission President Charles Michel and departing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to address the situation on his country's border.
On Thursday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal requested NATO to send warships into the Black Sea to aid his nation. Russia and Ukraine have been at odds for a long time, with Russia's leadership annexing Crimea in 2014, a move that was strongly denounced by the world.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said on Tuesday that Russian soldiers near Ukraine's border "do not constitute a threat to anybody and should not cause alarm to anyone." Peskov also warned against the US delivering further military supplies to Ukraine, saying it may aggravate the situation on the borderline.
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The United Kingdon warned Russia about the Ukraine invasion
Meanwhile, Britain warned Vladimir Putin that if he invades Ukraine, he would pay a high price, as Kiev claimed to have discovered a Kremlin-backed coup. According to reports, UK diplomats made a direct appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw 90,000 troops stationed on Ukraine's border.
Putin is planning a brief foray into eastern Ukraine or a larger invasion of the nation, according to official UK sources. Putin is claimed to have been enraged by increased military cooperation between Ukraine and Nato, which prompted the new invasion preparations. Putin just declared Russia and Ukraine to be "one country" although Ukraine has been independent since 1991.
In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, and the subsequent fighting has claimed the lives of over 14,000 people. Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss met with Ukraine's foreign minister, expressing the United Kingdom's support, as per Daily Mail.
Related Article: US Warns Russia Against Another "Mistake" in Ukraine Border; Blinken Claims Kremlin May Be Attempting To Rehash 2014 Invasion
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