What you need to know about the conflict between the Kyiv and Moscow regimes on three points.

Relations between Russia and Ukraine are heating up after the Kremlin’s military mobilization along the border, and the international community is not indifferent to the tensions in Eastern Europe.

Diplomatic relations between Russia and Ukraine are difficult and complex.

Between the two countries, the border not only divides the States but also is a way of looking at the world.

On the Ukrainian side, there is the will to join the Western bloc, including the preparation to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while on the Russian side, there is the maintenance of an Eastern bloc perspective, far from the European Union and the United States.

In these two former members of the Soviet Union, there are embassies and consulates on both sides, but this does not erase the tension between regimes.

The 2014 coup in Crimea, in which Russia annexed territory to date from Ukraine, is one of the greatest examples of conflicts between the two states.

However, these days, other doubts arise about the intentions of the Vladimir Putin regime.

Ukrainian and other Western authorities are sounding alarms about an increase in the Russian military presence near the Ukrainian border.

Russia is estimated to have around 100,000 troops along the border, and Kyiv believes Moscow is preparing for an invasion.

However, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, denies such intention, even with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, pointing out as reality the existence of a group, composed of Russians and Ukrainians, that would be preparing a military coup in the country.

WHICH IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TENSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE?

The annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014 by Russia is at the origin of this tension.

However, months later, several conflicts broke out between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian military in the eastern region of Ukraine, in the Donbas zone.

It is estimated that more than 13,000 people have been killed in this conflict, figures advanced by the United Nations.

Further complicating the situation, Ukraine, like several western bloc states, accuses the Putin regime of supporting pro-Russian separatists with weapons and human resources, although Moscow says the involvement of Russian citizens, if any, will have been voluntary .

WHAT ARE CURRENT CONCERNS?

Kyiv has criticized Moscow’s actions and the growing military presence near the borders.

According to the State, the mobilization represents a form of pressure on the part of the Russians.

However, the country led by Vladimir Putin points out that these are just military exercises.

All this at a time when Russia is trying, at all costs, to prevent Ukraine from getting closer – even closer – to Western countries, namely, through its integration in international or intercontinental organisations.

Making matters worse, Ukraine responds to Russian military moves with military exercises close to the border.

After accusations that it could be preparing an invasion of the Kiev regime, Russia denies and says it is a smear campaign by the West, accusing the United States of “hysteria”.

WHAT IS THE REACTION OF THE OTHER STATES?

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal refers, in an interview to “The Politico”, that he asked NATO, which also shows concern, to send warships to the Black Sea and planes to monitor Russian military activity.

The reaction from other parts of the world is marked by statements by the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, who calls for an equal military response, on the part of the Allies, against the military increase in Putin’s troops on the border.

Paris has also warned Russia that it condemns any “further attack on the territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

The United States, on the other hand, shares its concern about what is happening, with US President Joe Biden saying that he supports the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression”.

Ties between Washington and Kyiv have left the Kremlin on edge: since 2014, the United States has supported Ukraine, financially and militarily, to a value of around €4 billion.

Source: SIC / Simão Ribeiro Póvoa