Servicemen of Russia’s Eastern Military District units attend a welcoming ceremony as they arrive at unfamiliar training ranges in Belarus combining their own means of transport with travelling by train, to take part in a joint military exercise held by the Union State of Russia and Belarus and aiming to simulate repelling an external attack on its border, cutting possible supply lines for invaders as well as detecting, containing and eliminating their combat and subversive units.
Russian Defence Ministry | TASS | Getty Images
Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are growing, as the military buildup at the border shows no sign of dissipating and crisis talks remain at an impasse.
As the U.S. and U.K. respond with threats of sanctions and more, and withdraw diplomatic staff from their embassies in Kyiv, analysts are questioning whether the West can actually deter Russia, and just how far Western allies are willing to go to defend the country.
“While Russia continues to send additional troops and weaponry to the Ukraine border, there seem to be some divisions among the Western allies about how to respond,” Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy and Middle East and North Africa research at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note Sunday evening.
“While they have all promised a tough response, the U.K. and the U.S. have gone furthest in pledging crippling economic sanctions and indicating that Russia indeed has invasion plans and is seeking to install a pro-Kremlin leader in Kiev. By contrast, the German naval chief was forced to resign after stating that Putin ‘deserved respect’ — and suggesting that Berlin should join forces with Moscow against Beijing — and Chancellor Scholz called for ‘prudence’ in the application of sanctions.”
(R-L) Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister, and Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister of the United States of America, are pictured during a press conference on January 20, 2022 in Berlin, Germany.
Florian Gaertner | Photothek | Getty Images
People walk near the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine January 24, 2022.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
Britain, too, has reportedly started to withdraw diplomatic staff from its embassy in Ukraine, the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent said Monday. The move comes after the U.K. accused the Kremlin on Saturday of seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly denied it is preparing to invade its neighbor Ukraine, despite stationing around 100,000 Russian troops at various locations along the border, according to Ukrainian and Western officials, and building up military hardware there.
Russia says it has the right to move military personnel and equipment wherever it likes in the country, and last week accused the West of plotting “provocations” in Ukraine, a country that aspires to join both the EU and NATO as its government under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks closer ties with the West.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, has been a vocal critic…
Read More: Can the US and Europe stop Russia from attacking Ukraine?