DAVOS, Switzerland – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has accused Russia of sending more than 9,000 troops into Ukrainian territory and has demanded that they leave.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21, Mr. Poroshenko demanded that Russia immediately implement all of its obligations under the Minsk peace plan, close Russia’s border with Ukraine, “and withdraw all the foreign troops from my territory.”
Mr. Poroshenko said that in addition to the thousands of troops in Ukraine, Russia had about “500 tanks, heavy artillery, and armored personnel carriers.” The president asked: “If this is not aggression, what is aggression?”
Earlier, Mr. Poroshenko said in an interview that Russia had sent additional Russian troops, tanks, and armored personnel carriers into Ukrainian territory in recent days. He said the Russian military deployments were clearly a form of aggression.
Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed those allegations as baseless.
Mr. Poroshenko’s statements came ahead of a January 21 meeting in Berlin of the foreign affairs ministers of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In announcing the meeting on January 20, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the resurgence in fighting during the last few days has led “to a threatening situation.”
“The chief aim now is to prevent a further deterioration of the military conflict and a renewed political escalation between Kyiv and Moscow,” Mr. Steinmeier said in a statement. The group last met in Berlin on January 12.
Speaking in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on January 21 that she hoped the talks would lead to improving the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine but that “I don’t want to get hopes up too much.” She added that the ceasefire was becoming “more and more fragile.”
Ukraine said on January 20 that its troops had been attacked by regular Russian army troops in the northern part of the Luhansk region.
An Associated Press correspondent in the separatist-held part of Luhansk reported seeing six anti-tank cannons, 15 tanks, nine self-propelled howitzers and Grad multiple-rocket launchers heading toward Checkpoint 31, where Ukrainian and rebel fighters had fought on January 20.
Ukraine announced plans on January 21 to increase its military strength by 68,000 troops.
Meanwhile, President Poroshenko added from Davos that Ukraine will not renegotiate the ceasefire agreement signed in Minsk in September.
The Ukrainian president also said on January 21 that his country will break its dependence on Russian natural gas by 2017. He said that would be possible by receiving more gas from European sources and by using shale-gas technology within Ukraine.
With reporting by Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the Associated Press.
Copyright 2015, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036; www.rferl.org (see http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-poroshenko-russian-troops-out/26806242.html).