Kieran Corcoran and Wills Robinson
A Ukrainian foreign minister has said he fears imminent invasion from Russian forces.
Danylo Lubkivsky, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, also swore that he would ‘protect our motherland’, hours after the prime minister of Ukraine accused Russia of trying ‘to start World War Three’.
‘We have the information we are in danger,’ Danylo Lubkivsky told reporters at the United Nations.
Tensions have spiked as Russia increases military exercises along the Ukraine border. Speaking at the United Nations, Lubkivsky called it a ‘very dangerous development’ and demanded that Russia withdraw its troops.
‘We are in danger’: Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Danylo Lubkivsky told a U.N. press conference that he fears invasion
Response: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, pictured shaking hands with John Kerry earlier this month, has said the West is trying to control Ukraine to serve their own political ambitions
Options: He added that pro-Moscow insurgents would lay down their arms if Ukrainian officials cleared out the protest camp in Kiev’s Independence Square
‘We are going to protect our motherland against any invasion,’ Lubkivsky said. ‘We call on the Russians to stop this madness.’
It came shortly after Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk has accused Russia of warmongering, and warned that any conflict would drag in more countries.
‘Attempts at military conflict in Ukraine will lead to a military conflict in Europe,’ Mr Yatsenyuk said in a live television broadcast.
‘The world has not yet forgotten World War Two, but Russia already wants to start World War Three.’
The Russian Foreign Minister also added to the bellicose rhetoric, accusing the West of trying to control Ukraine to serve their own ‘political ambitions’.
Sergey Lavrov played down Moscow’s military ambitions, suggesting insurgents would lay down their arms if the Ukrainian government clears out the Maidan protest camp in the capital Kiev.
It follows President Obama’s stark warning that wider economic sanctions would be imposed if Russia’s military aggression continued.
Build-up: Russian military helicopters are seen in a field outside the village of Severny near the Russian-Ukrainian
Fleet: Russian armoured vehicles drive into the city of Belgorod as tensions in the area increase
Lavrov said: ‘The West wants — and this is how it all began — to seize control of Ukraine because of their own political ambitions, not in the interests of the Ukrainian people.’
‘They (Kiev) are waging a war on their own people. This is a bloody crime, and those who pushed the army to do that will pay, I am sure, and will face justice.’
The US and key allies in Europe have agreed that Russia failed to live up to the terms of the Ukraine peace accord, and would coordinate on a response to ‘impose costs’ on Russia, according to the White House.
It followed a conference call between President Obama, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and David Cameron.
The British Prime Minister said in a statement: ‘While they continued to hold open the door to a diplomatic resolution of this crisis, based on the Geneva agreement, the five leaders agreed that in the light of Russia’s refusal to support the process, an extension of the current targeted sanctions would need to be implemented, in conjunction with other G7 leaders and with European partners.’
Ukrainian special forces launched a second phase of their operation in the east of the country on Friday by mounting a full blockade of the rebel-held city of Slovyansk, an official on the presidential staff said.
One of its military helicopters was hit by rocket fire and exploded while on the ground at an airport near the city, the Defence Ministry said.
The chopper was on the ground when it was hit and the pilot managed to escape with minor injuries.
‘An army Mi-8 helicopter has exploded at the Kramatorsk aerodrome,’ a spokesman in Kiev said.
Preventative tactics: Ukrainian special forces prepare to deploy a strip of nails at a check-point between Donetsk and Slavyansk
Defiant: Two guards stand above the defensive traps not far from the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk
Seven people were also injured overnight at a pro-Ukrainian checkpoint near the Black Sea port of Odessa when an explosive device blew up.
A bus carrying international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was also seized in Slovyansk by pro-Russian militants.
The group, which included 7 OSCE representatives and five members of the Ukrainian armed forces, was being held in the building of the state security agency (SBU) in the city which has been occupied by pro-Russian separatists.
Interior minister Arsen Avakov insisted every care was being taken to avoid non-combatant casualties, after Moscow warned it may act if Kiev used the army against civilians.
Standing firm: Ukrainian special forces soldiers block the way to the airport in Kramatorsk, Donetsk
President Obama added to the diplomatic row, warning sections of Russia’s economy will be sanctioned if they invade Ukraine.
He said the US and West will keep ‘arrows in our quiver’ in case the diplomatic situation between Kiev and Moscow deteriorates further.
Restrictions placed on Russia have so far not deterred Vladimir Putin as the tension along the border increases.
But the President insists his Russian counterpart ‘is not stupid’ and knows how badly heavy sanctions could impact the country’s business.
Warning: The US President has said groundwork has been laid for wide-ranging economic sanctions to be imposed on Russia if they continue their military aggression
Plan: Speaking in Seoul, he said the US was keeping ‘arrows in our quiver’ in case the diplomatic situation deteriorated any further
The threat has led to fears that European countries who rely on parts of the Russian economy, such as energy, could suffer as a result.
The statement made by the President during a press conference in South Korea, followed Secretary of State John Kerry’s warning that the Kremlin’s continued military aggression would be a ‘grave mistake’.
Mr Kerry issued his blunt ultimatum after accusing Putin of ‘sabotaging’ the democratic process and using the ‘barrel of a gun’ instead.
Warning: US Secretary of State John Kerry said the window for Russia top change its course was closing
Aggressor: He accused Putin of ‘sabotaging’ the democratic process through ‘gross intimidation’
Checkpoints: Armed pro-Russian militants signal for a guard to slow down near Slovyansk
Search: Through inspections are carried out on vehicles passing through
It comes after five pro-Russia ‘terrorists’ were killed in clashes with Ukrainian military on Thursday.
Kerry said: ‘This is a full-throated effort to sabotage the democratic process through gross external intimidation.
‘What is happening in eastern Ukraine is a military operation that is well planned and organized.
‘Following today’s threatening movement of Russian troops right up to Ukraine’s border, let me be clear:
If Russia continues in this direction, it will not just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake. The window to change course is closing.’
Kerry also said that new sanctions which could be imposed on Russia would be an ‘escalation’.
Suspicious: A lorry driver is asked to lift up the sheet covering the back of his lorry so the contents can be examined
Stance: Two militia members prepare to inspect the inside of a vehicle. Opposing Ukranian troops have threatened to impose a blockade of Slovyanska
Arsenal: Militants use knife blades to modify and refurbish old rifles
Stocks: Insurgents amend their classic weapons as the prospect of military confrontation continues
Armed: The man poses while grasping onto the butt of his weapon
Prepared: Masked pro Russian militants stand guard at the barricades in Slovyansk , eastern Ukraine
Checks: The soldiers keep records of their duties. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the insurgents would lay down their arms if the protest camp in Kiev’s Independence Square was abandoned
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has also opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine in the period leading up to the fall of former president Viktor Yanukovich.
The new government of Ukraine referred the case to the ICC, alleging that Yanukovich’s troops killed more than 100 demonstrators in Kiev and other cities.
The referral runs up to the day before Russia’s annexation of Crimea, meaning the court would not be obliged to consider the possibility of crimes committed by Russian soldiers or officials.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed the US politcians’ ambitions, suggestion the European Union’s foreign ministers will meet soon to consider further sanctions.
Merkel said she’s convinced Russia could ‘put the separatists in eastern Ukraine on a peaceful path’ and said Kiev had taken ‘a series of steps’ to implement the agreement.
She said it’s important to pursue diplomacy and to prepare for Ukraine’s May 25 presidential election. But she said ministers also consider ‘phase two’ sanctions, targeted measures that fall short of all-out economic sanctions.
Officials from five ex-Soviet republics joined the West’s call for Russia to withdraw its troops.
Tag: A militant adjusts his mask in front of a spray-painted sign
Slogan: The grafitti on gates in Slovyansk reads ‘Russian do not surrender’
Hidden: A masked insurgent holds a bat with a youngster wrapped in a blanket in Slovyansk
Taken over: Two men guard a police station that has been seized by a pro-Russian faction
Break: A masked man smokes behind a barricade placed around the local government building in Horlivka, 27 miles northeast of Donetsk
Fence: A masked man rests on a collection of sandbags outside a government building in Slovyansk
Bystanders: Two elderly women sit beside a barricade outside the Donestk Regional Administration building following its recent takeover by pro-Russian activists
Masked: Pro-Russian separatists stand guard inside the barricade constructed out of barbed wire and spare tyres
Camp: A man sits outside a tent beside a makeshift fire. The group have vowed to defend the building with Molotov Cocktails
Rubble: A woman reads a leaflet beside an oil barrel covered in chalk writing and in front of a wall of tyres
Watching: A group of women, one holding a shopping bag, sit against the tyres, behind a man wearing a balaclava
Communication: A man makes a phone call as he as a teenager called Valadislav stares into the camera outside the Service building in Lugansk,
The announcement came during a meeting in Prague of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership, made up of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Belarus did not attend the two-day meeting.
Czech president Milos Zeman, who hosted the meeting in Prague, said if Russia withdraws its troops from border areas, it would be a peaceful gesture that could help calm the crisis. Russia has already annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
On Thursday, Russia announced new military exercises involving ground and air forces near its border with Ukraine, swiftly responding to a Ukrainian operation to drive pro-Russia insurgents out of occupied buildings in the country’s tumultuous east after reportedly killing as many as five pro-Moscow militia members.
Accusations: Russian President Vladimir Putin has leveled new threats against the Ukraine after as many as five pro-Russia fighters were killed
The Ukrainian move, which killed at the very least two people, brought new threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who denounced it as a ‘punitive operation.’
‘If the Kiev government is using the army against its own people, this is clearly a grave crime,’ Putin said.
Putin’s statement and the announcement of new military maneuvers sharpened anxiety over the prospect of a Russian incursion into Ukraine.
Russia’s foreign minister warned a day earlier that any attack on Russian citizens or interests in eastern Ukraine would bring a strong response.
Accusing Russia of fomenting unrest and separatist sentiment in eastern Ukraine following its annexation of the strategic Crimean Peninsula, Kerry added: ‘Nobody should doubt Russia’s hand in this.’
‘What is happening in eastern Ukraine is a military operation that is well-planned and organized, and we assess that it is being carried out at the direction of Russia,’ the U.S. secretary of state said.
Animosity between Moscow and Kiev has been high since the ouster of Russia-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych in February in the wake of months of protests. Russia contends the government that took over consists of nationalists who aim to suppress the large Russian-speaking population in Ukraine’s east.
Tension areas: A number of cities along the Russia-Ukrainian border have experienced an increase in the level of military activity
Scene: Ukrainian security forces walk past a checkpoint where five pro-Russian separatists were shot
Dispute: The tense standoff in the eastern city of Slavyansk came as tensions between Kiev and Moscow increased
Turning point: The deaths of the soldiers could be seen as the point that the diplomatic feud between Ukraine and Russia escalated into war
In March, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula after its residents voted to split off from Ukraine. Russian troops backed up local militias that blocked off Ukrainian military bases in the run-up to the referendum.
Ukraine’s acting president accused Russia of backing the separatists in the east and demanded that Moscow stop its intimidation campaign, and leave his country alone.
Oleksandr Turchynov said in an address to the nation Thursday that Russia was ‘coordinating and openly supporting terrorist killers’ in eastern Ukraine, where government buildings in at least 10 cities have been seized by pro-Russia gunmen.
Turchynov said Russia must pull back its troops from the Ukrainian border and ‘stop the constant threats and blackmail.’
Show of force: Ukraine’s military launched an assault on the flashpoint rebel-held town in the east of the country, sending armoured vehicles and helicopters to the scene
‘Terrorists’: The Ukrainian government says it has killed five pro-Russia ‘terrorists’
His foreign minister, on a visit to Prague, also blasted the Russian decision to start new military maneuvers and said his country would fight any invading troops.
‘We will now fight with Russian troops if … they invade Ukraine. Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian army are ready to do this,’ Andriy Deshchytisa told The Associated Press.
Russia already has tens of thousands of troops stationed in regions along its border with Ukraine. The latest Russian military exercises involve ground troops in the south and the west and the air forces patrolling the border, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
Ukraine and Russia reached a deal in Geneva last week to defuse the crisis, but pro-Russian insurgents in the east — and nationalist militants in Kiev — have defied calls for all sides to disarm and to vacate the buildings they are occupying.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow sharply criticized Russia for making ‘veiled threats’ and said Russia should pull its troops back to their barracks.
The Ukrainian government and the West worry that Putin would welcome a pretext for a military intervention in eastern Ukraine. Putin denies that any Russian agents are operating there, but insists he has the right to intervene to protect the ethnic Russians who make up a sizeable minority in the east.
Pro-Russia Donetsk People’s Republic announced a mobilization of its forces in eastern Ukraine on Thursday in response to killing of Pro-Russia militants
With no appetite in the U.S. for a military response, Obama is largely banking on Putin caving under a cascade of economic sanctions targeting his closest associates. But the success of that strategy also depends on European nations with closer financial ties to Moscow taking similar action, despite their concerns about a boomerang effect on their own economies.
‘I understand that additional sanctions may not change Mr. Putin’s calculus,’ Obama said. ‘How well they change his calculus in part depends on not only us applying sanctions, but also the cooperation of other countries.’
