While the West wonders if Vladimir Putin is planning an invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin is said to have devised a different plan to get its way in Kiev. Moscow is said to have planned a plot to overthrow the Ukrainian government. London wants proof of that.
Britain has accused Moscow of plotting to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine. “We have information that suggests the Russian government is attempting to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev,” Britain’s Foreign Office said on Saturday. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the accusation as “disinformation” and called on London to “stop the spread of nonsense”.
The Foreign Office in London said it had evidence linking several former Ukrainian politicians to Russian intelligence agencies. “Some of them are in contact with Russian intelligence officials who are currently involved in planning an attack on Ukraine,” the ministry said. A possible pro-Russian leader is ex-Prime Minister Yevgeny Murayev.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow rejected the accusation as targeted misinformation. The disinformation spread by the British Foreign Office is “another sign that it is the NATO members led by the Anglo-Saxon nations who are escalating tensions over Ukraine,” the Russian ministry said on Twitter.
Russia provokes with an invasion scenario
Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops along with tanks, military vehicles, artillery and missiles on the Ukrainian border in recent weeks. The West therefore fears a major Russian attack on the neighboring country. The Kremlin denies plans for an invasion.
The allegation of an alleged conspiracy by Moscow came at the end of a week of intense international crisis diplomacy. After talks in Kiev and Berlin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached an agreement with his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday to continue diplomatic efforts in the Ukraine crisis.
These men should go to Kiev
Ukraine’s ex-prime minister Murayev, named by London as a possible pro-Russian leader, lost his seat in parliament in Kiev when his party failed to clear the five percent threshold in the 2019 general election. He is believed to be the owner of the Ukrainian television channel Nash, which the Ukrainian authorities tried to shut down last year because of pro-Russian propaganda.
Four other politicians named by London are Mykola Azarov, Sergei Arbuzov, Andrei Kluyev and Volodymyr Sivkovich. Azarov was prime minister under pro-Russian ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, both of whom fled to Russia in 2014. Arbuzov and Kluyev were deputy heads of government under Yanukovych. The US this week imposed sanctions on Vladimir Sivkovich, a former member of Ukraine’s National Council for Security and Defense, on suspicion of collaborating with Russian intelligence agencies.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted that the available information “sheds light on the scale of Russian activities aimed at overthrowing Ukraine and gives an insight into the mindset of the Kremlin”. Russia must “de-escalate, end its campaigns of aggression and disinformation, and pursue a path of diplomacy,” Truss said.
Germany continues to refuse arms deliveries to Ukraine
The White House called “this type of conspiracy” “deeply disturbing”. The Ukrainian people have “the sovereign right to determine their own future,” said US National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne. The United States stands “on the side of the democratically elected partners in Ukraine”.
A few hours before the allegations against Moscow were published, it was said in British defense circles that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had accepted an invitation from his British colleague Ben Wallace to talk about the Ukraine crisis. Since the last bilateral talks between defense ministers of both countries took place in London in 2013, Shoigu suggested a meeting in Moscow.
The UK is among a handful of western countries supplying weapons such as anti-tank missiles to Ukraine given the situation. Germany continues to refuse arms deliveries. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba therefore accused Berlin of “encouraging” the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin in his actions. In addition, Germany is undermining the unity of the West in the conflict.
Source From: Stern
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