Russia is preparing for huge war with west, warns Ukrainian President
Petro Poroshenko has warned Moscow may not pull its troops out of Belarus after its latest Zapad military exercises
The Ukrainian President has warned that Russia’s latest military drill shows it is preparing its forces for war in Eastern Europe.
Petro Poroshenko said that Moscow’s latest military exercise, which is due to be held in Belarus next week with up to 100,000 troops expected to mobilise on the EU’s eastern borders, demonstrated its increasing ambitions in the region.
Mr Poroshenko, a former oligarch who came to power following mass protests in 2013, said these latest war games show that Russia has no intention of handing back Crimea and or withdrawing from the separatist eastern regions, local news website Ukrainska Pravada.
In an address to the Ukrainian parliament he said: “There are no signs at the moment that Moscow would be ready to pull back from Donbass or leave Crimea.
“In fact, there is more and more evidence for its preparations for an offensive war of continental proportions.”
"Under the guise of strategic command exercises, we are not ruling out the creation of a new assault group of Russian troops to strike Ukrainian territory,” he said. “Some 2,000 transporters with soldiers and equipment have approached and are approaching our borders. There is no guarantee that after the end of these manoeuvres all this will return to Russia.”
Other former Soviet states such as Georgia and Lithuania have also raised concerns about the drill.
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said the drill could be used as a front to station Russian troops in Belarus as a precursor to annexation, Newsweek reported.
World news in pictures
Show all 51
World news in pictures
1/51 24 July 2020
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attending Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the official opening ceremony of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVI
2/51 23 July 2020
Federal officers arrest a protester after she crossed a fence line set up around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon. State and city elected officials have called for the federal officers to leave Portland as clashes between protesters and federal police continue to escalate
Getty Images
3/51 22 July 2020
Fire burns near the village of Galataki as authorities evacuate the place near Corinth, Greece. More than 250 firefighters, backed by water-dropping aircraft, were struggling Wednesday to contain a large wildfire fanned by strong winds that has forced the evacuation of five settlements in southern Greece
AP
4/51 21 July 2020
A Black Lives Matter protester carries an American flag as teargas fills the air outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon
AP
5/51 20 July 2020
A trader decorates a camel with Henna at a cattle market set up for the upcoming Muslim festival Eid al-Adha also called "Festival of the Sacrifice", in Rawalpindi
AFP via Getty
6/51 19 July 2020
The Milky Way galaxy is seen in the sky above the International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada. The roadside attraction, created in 2002 by Mark Rippie, has over 36 automobiles including cars, trucks, vans and buses that have been balanced on their ends or stacked on top one of another
AFP via Getty
7/51 18 July 2020
Revellers take part in the annual Gay Pride parade, also called Christopher Street Day in Frankfurt
Reuters
8/51 17 July 2020
Airplanes of the Scandinavian Airshow draw a heart in the sky, above the Turning Torso building in Malmo, Sweden
TT News Agency/Reuters
9/51 16 July 2020
Farmers protest outside the Indonesian Parliament against the cancellation of an 'omnibus bill' that aims to revise dozens of existing laws to ease the way for investment in Southeast Asia's largest economy in Jakarta
Reuters
10/51 15 July 2020
Flooding in Sunamganj. Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade
AFP via Getty
11/51 14 July 2020
Second Republican infantry guard regiment take part in the annual Bastille Day military ceremony on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
AFP via Getty
12/51 13 July 2020
A man walks his dog through thick sea foam blowing ashore during a storm in Seapoint, Cape Town, South Africa
EPA
13/51 12 July 2020
Security forces on the outskirts of Amritsar take part in Van Mahotsav, an annual tree-planting festival in India
AFP via Getty
14/51 11 July 2020
People covered with coloured powder enjoy music during the Holi festival in Minsk, Belarus
EPA
15/51 10 July 2020
A demonstrator during clashes following the funeral of 29-year-old Palestinian Ibrahim Abou Yacoub, who was killed by Israeli forces, in the village of Kifl Hares, south of the West Bank city of Nablus
AFP via Getty
16/51 9 July 2020
The sun rises in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany
AP
17/51 8 July 2020
Portraits of healthcare workers are pasted on the Opera Bastille, designed by Anne-Christine Poujoulat, to pay tribute to caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Paris
Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty
18/51 7 July 2020
Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
19/51 6 July 2020
A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
20/51 5 July 2020
People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus sit at a bus stop in the city of Zanjan, Iran
AP
21/51 4 July 2020
Protesters blocking an exit to the precinct of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, cover their ears anticipating the use of flash-bang grenades by police in Aurora, Colorado
Reuters
22/51 3 July 2020
A member of the Israeli border police jumps during a Palestinian protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank, in Kafr Qaddum near Nablus
Reuters
23/51 2 July 2020
A surfer jumps clear of his board while enjoying winter waves at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand
AP
24/51 1 July 2020
A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration in Hong Kong. China imposed a new national security law which has faced international condemnation
Getty
25/51 30 June 2020
A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health workers in France
AFP via Getty
26/51 29 June 2020
Lawmakers from Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party scuffle with people from the main opposition Kuomintang party, who have been occupying the Legislature Yuan, in Taipei
Reuters
27/51 28 June 2020
Protester holds crosses during a demonstration in honour of the victims of coronavirus in front of Brazil's National Congress
Getty
28/51 27 June 2020
A demonstrator wearing a face mask holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Victory column in Berlin
Reuters
29/51 26 June 2020
Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
30/51 25 June 2020
A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller - Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
31/51 24 June 2020
A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country's first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
32/51 23 June 2020
Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the "Glacier 3000" Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
33/51 22 June 2020
A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
34/51 21 June 2020
Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. - The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America's worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
35/51 20 June 2020
National Guards form a line in front of "Black Lives Matter" protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
36/51 19 June 2020
Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
37/51 18 June 2020
Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader's appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
38/51 17 June 2020
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
39/51 16 June 2020
Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
40/51 15 June 2020
Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy's restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
41/51 14 June 2020
People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo
AFP via Getty
42/51 13 June 2020
Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear
EPA
43/51 12 June 2020
A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill
Getty
44/51 11 June 2020
A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from "Extinction Rebellion" to protest the German government's coal policies in Berlin
AFP via Getty
45/51 10 June 2020
A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue's head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US
AFP via Getty
46/51 9 June 2020
Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism
AFP via Getty
47/51 8 June 2020
People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest
AFP via Getty
48/51 7 June 2020
A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan
EPA
49/51 6 June 2020
Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP via Getty
50/51 5 June 2020
A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region
Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty
51/51 4 June 2020
Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus
AFP via Getty
1/51 24 July 2020
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attending Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the official opening ceremony of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVI
2/51 23 July 2020
Federal officers arrest a protester after she crossed a fence line set up around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon. State and city elected officials have called for the federal officers to leave Portland as clashes between protesters and federal police continue to escalate
Getty Images
3/51 22 July 2020
Fire burns near the village of Galataki as authorities evacuate the place near Corinth, Greece. More than 250 firefighters, backed by water-dropping aircraft, were struggling Wednesday to contain a large wildfire fanned by strong winds that has forced the evacuation of five settlements in southern Greece
AP
4/51 21 July 2020
A Black Lives Matter protester carries an American flag as teargas fills the air outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon
AP
5/51 20 July 2020
A trader decorates a camel with Henna at a cattle market set up for the upcoming Muslim festival Eid al-Adha also called "Festival of the Sacrifice", in Rawalpindi
AFP via Getty
6/51 19 July 2020
The Milky Way galaxy is seen in the sky above the International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada. The roadside attraction, created in 2002 by Mark Rippie, has over 36 automobiles including cars, trucks, vans and buses that have been balanced on their ends or stacked on top one of another
AFP via Getty
7/51 18 July 2020
Revellers take part in the annual Gay Pride parade, also called Christopher Street Day in Frankfurt
Reuters
8/51 17 July 2020
Airplanes of the Scandinavian Airshow draw a heart in the sky, above the Turning Torso building in Malmo, Sweden
TT News Agency/Reuters
9/51 16 July 2020
Farmers protest outside the Indonesian Parliament against the cancellation of an 'omnibus bill' that aims to revise dozens of existing laws to ease the way for investment in Southeast Asia's largest economy in Jakarta
Reuters
10/51 15 July 2020
Flooding in Sunamganj. Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade
AFP via Getty
11/51 14 July 2020
Second Republican infantry guard regiment take part in the annual Bastille Day military ceremony on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
AFP via Getty
12/51 13 July 2020
A man walks his dog through thick sea foam blowing ashore during a storm in Seapoint, Cape Town, South Africa
EPA
13/51 12 July 2020
Security forces on the outskirts of Amritsar take part in Van Mahotsav, an annual tree-planting festival in India
AFP via Getty
14/51 11 July 2020
People covered with coloured powder enjoy music during the Holi festival in Minsk, Belarus
EPA
15/51 10 July 2020
A demonstrator during clashes following the funeral of 29-year-old Palestinian Ibrahim Abou Yacoub, who was killed by Israeli forces, in the village of Kifl Hares, south of the West Bank city of Nablus
AFP via Getty
16/51 9 July 2020
The sun rises in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany
AP
17/51 8 July 2020
Portraits of healthcare workers are pasted on the Opera Bastille, designed by Anne-Christine Poujoulat, to pay tribute to caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Paris
Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty
18/51 7 July 2020
Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
19/51 6 July 2020
A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
20/51 5 July 2020
People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus sit at a bus stop in the city of Zanjan, Iran
AP
21/51 4 July 2020
Protesters blocking an exit to the precinct of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, cover their ears anticipating the use of flash-bang grenades by police in Aurora, Colorado
Reuters
22/51 3 July 2020
A member of the Israeli border police jumps during a Palestinian protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank, in Kafr Qaddum near Nablus
Reuters
23/51 2 July 2020
A surfer jumps clear of his board while enjoying winter waves at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand
AP
24/51 1 July 2020
A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration in Hong Kong. China imposed a new national security law which has faced international condemnation
Getty
25/51 30 June 2020
A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health workers in France
AFP via Getty
26/51 29 June 2020
Lawmakers from Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party scuffle with people from the main opposition Kuomintang party, who have been occupying the Legislature Yuan, in Taipei
Reuters
27/51 28 June 2020
Protester holds crosses during a demonstration in honour of the victims of coronavirus in front of Brazil's National Congress
Getty
28/51 27 June 2020
A demonstrator wearing a face mask holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Victory column in Berlin
Reuters
29/51 26 June 2020
Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
30/51 25 June 2020
A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller - Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
31/51 24 June 2020
A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country's first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
32/51 23 June 2020
Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the "Glacier 3000" Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
33/51 22 June 2020
A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
34/51 21 June 2020
Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. - The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America's worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
35/51 20 June 2020
National Guards form a line in front of "Black Lives Matter" protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
36/51 19 June 2020
Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
37/51 18 June 2020
Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader's appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
38/51 17 June 2020
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
39/51 16 June 2020
Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
40/51 15 June 2020
Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy's restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
41/51 14 June 2020
People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo
AFP via Getty
42/51 13 June 2020
Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear
EPA
43/51 12 June 2020
A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill
Getty
44/51 11 June 2020
A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from "Extinction Rebellion" to protest the German government's coal policies in Berlin
AFP via Getty
45/51 10 June 2020
A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue's head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US
AFP via Getty
46/51 9 June 2020
Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism
AFP via Getty
47/51 8 June 2020
People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest
AFP via Getty
48/51 7 June 2020
A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan
EPA
49/51 6 June 2020
Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP via Getty
50/51 5 June 2020
A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region
Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty
51/51 4 June 2020
Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus
AFP via Getty
The Kremlin has always denied it is arming pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine as part of their conflict with the Ukrainian state.
It comes as Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, accused the Kremlin of “falling in its obligations” under international rules to allow in foreign observers.
So far Russia and Belarus have said only three Nato experts have been invited to watch some of the drills – which are supposed to test military preparedness in the face of an attack.
Western observers have rubbished the Kremlin’s claims that only 13,000 troops are expected to take part in their Zapad (“west”) exercises.
Under the international rules of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Vienna Document, any country planning on carrying out a military exercise with more than 13,000 troops taking part must notify other countries in advance and invite them to observe it.
Speaking to British troops at a military base in Estonia where they have been based since March, Mr Stoltenberg said: “Briefings on the exercise scenario and progress; opportunities to talk to individual soldiers; and overflights over the exercise.
“This is something that is part of the Vienna document, an agreement regulating transparency and predictability relating to military exercises.
“So we call on Russia to observe the letter and the spirit of the Vienna document. Transparency and predictability are even more important when tensions are high to reduce the risks of misunderstandings and incidents," he added.
“Nato remains calm and vigilant and we are going to keep Estonia and our allies safe.”
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