Russia Doesn’t Rule Out Invasion Ukraine

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has indirectly warned the West that his troops will invade Ukraine unless it gives immediate security guarantees.

Speaking about the roughly 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine’s borders, he said Russia’s military build-up responded to the U.S.-led NATO military alliance’s activities.

Putin clarified that the crisis could be defused only if NATO halts its expansion and movements in Eastern Europe and does not admit Ukraine as a member.

The Russian told reporters at his annual end-of-year press briefing that he had already laid out “red lines” on Ukraine and refused to guarantee that there would be no invasion. “We didn’t come to the U.S. or UK borders. No, they came to ours,” he said.

Putin claimed NATO had been “cheating” Russia with five waves of expansion since the 1990s. In a reaction, U.S. officials said talks could take place in January on Russia’s troop build-up near Ukraine.

Putin announced he was hopeful of a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. “The ball is in their court; they have to give us some response,” Putin said Thursday at his press conference.

While he denied immediate plans to invade Ukraine, he did not completely rule it out in the near future. Ukraine’s government says the “more than 100,000 Russian troops” could invade as early as next month.

The U.S. threatened Putin with sanctions “like none he’s ever seen” if Ukraine comes under attack amid the biggest East-West standoff since the collapse of the Russia-led Soviet Union in the 1990s.

The developments are closely watched in countries bordering Ukraine, including NATO-member state Hungary where the Russian and Hungarian defense ministers held talks.

Hungary’s hardline Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has come under opposition pressure for not condemning Russia’s actions and his perceived cozy relationship with Vladimir Putin.

Instead, Orbán has criticized Ukraine for its alleged mistreatment of ethnic Hungarians and other minorities. Hungary is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas and other deals. Hungary also asked Russia to upgrade its only nuclear power plant, despite Western concerns about that agreement.

Russian troops entered Hungary towards the end of World War Two and eventually crushed Hungary’s 1956 Revolution against Soviet domination. The last Russian troops left Hungary in 1991, and the country finally became a member of NATO and the European Union.

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