Ukraine: Russia is preparing for huge war with west, warns Ukrainian president
The Ukrainian President has warned that Russia’s latest military drill shows it is preparing its forces for war in Eastern Europe.
Petro Poroshenko said that Moscow’s latest military exercise, which is due to be held in Belarus next week with up to 100,000 troops expected to mobilise on the EU’s eastern borders, demonstrated its increasing ambitions in the region.
Mr Poroshenko, a former oligarch who came to power following mass protests in 2013, said these latest war games show that Russia has no intention of handing back Crimea and or withdrawing from the separatist eastern regions, local news website Ukrainska Pravada.
In an address to the Ukrainian parliament he said: “There are no signs at the moment that Moscow would be ready to pull back from Donbass or leave Crimea.
“In fact, there is more and more evidence for its preparations for an offensive war of continental proportions.”