14.10.2021, Moscow.
Brussels’ plans to deploy an EU military training mission in Ukraine encourage the Kiev authorities to undermine the Minsk agreements and escalate tension in Donbass, said the Spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova at a briefing on October 14, the REGNUM information agency reports.
“Of course, Brussels’ plans to deploy an EU military training mission in Ukraine raise concerns. Implementation of this initiative, which, besides, flies in the face of the Minsk agreements, would further militarize Ukraine and escalate tension in Donbass,” Zakharova noted.
The diplomat stressed that as this decision “would encourage the Kiev authorities to further undermine the Minsk package of measures,” Brussels’ initiative, especially if it is deliberate, raises many questions in the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“Therefore, we urge to refrain from this, to put it mildly, thoughtless step,” the Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman concluded.
On October 12, after the Ukraine ― EU summit in Kiev, President of the European Council Charles Michel said that the leaders of the EU and Ukraine were thinking over establishing an EU military training mission in this country with further participation of Ukrainian military servicemen in EU’s foreign missions. Also, Michel signed a joint statement with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, which, in particular, “strongly” condemned Russia’s military aggression since February 2014, and they placed responsibility for the conflict in Eastern Ukraine on Russia.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
