Strikes come as Russia denies US claims that’s in search of a pretext to invade Ukraine.
The UK has begun supplying Ukraine with anti-tank weapons and Canada has reportedly deployed a small contingent of particular forces to Kyiv amid considerations of a attainable invasion by Russia.
The developments got here as Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov angrily rejected claims by the USA final week that Moscow was making ready a pretext to invade Ukraine if diplomacy failed to fulfill its goals.
Whereas Moscow – which has deployed 100,000 troops close to its border with Ukraine – denies plans for an assault towards Ukraine, it has mentioned it may take unspecified army motion except the West agrees to an inventory of calls for, together with banning Kyiv from ever becoming a member of NATO.
Russia views NATO’s growth eastwards as an existential menace.
However Washington and its allies have firmly rejected Moscow’s calls for and Russia-US negotiations in Geneva and a associated NATO-Russia assembly in Brussels ended final week and not using a breakthrough.
Kyiv has since requested Western nations for arms to assist it shield itself.
Talking within the British parliament on Monday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace mentioned the UK had “taken the choice to provide Ukraine with gentle anti-armour defensive weapon techniques”.
The primary weaponry was delivered on Monday and a small variety of British personnel would offer coaching for a brief time period, he mentioned, with out specifying the quantity and sort of weapons that have been being despatched.
However he added, “They don’t seem to be strategic weapons and pose no menace to Russia. They’re to make use of in self-defence.
“These are short-range …. however however it could make individuals pause and assume what they have been doing and if tanks have been to roll into Ukraine, invade it, then they might be a part of the defence mechanism.”
In a separate article printed on Monday, Wallace additionally addressed Russian claims of threats from NATO, saying the Western safety alliance is “to its core, defensive”.
“Former Soviet states haven’t been expanded ‘into’ by NATO, however joined at their very own request,” he wrote. “The Kremlin makes an attempt to current NATO as a Western plot to encroach upon its territory, however in actuality, the expansion in Alliance membership is the pure response of these states to its personal malign actions and threats.”
In Kyiv, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov welcomed the UK’s help, saying in a Twitter submit that his nation “extremely appreciates Britain’s resolution to supply a brand new safety bundle with gentle, anti-armour, defensive weapon techniques!”
Ukrainian officers have warned that Russia may launch an assault on their nation from varied instructions, together with from the territory of its ally Belarus. Russian and Belarusian troops are planning to carry large-scale army drills subsequent month, together with close to Belarus’s border with Ukraine.
Belarus Safety Council Secretary Alexander Volfovich mentioned on Monday that Russian troops had began arriving within the nation for the train, based on the BELTA information company.
Russia has denied having plans to assault its neighbour and as an alternative accused the Ukrainian management of hatching plans to make use of drive to reclaim management of the Russian-backed rebel-held territories in japanese Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities have denied the declare.
Individually in Canada, International Information in the meantime reported that Ottawa had dispatched particular forces operators to Ukraine.
Citing unspecified sources, the TV broadcaster mentioned the unit will determine methods to help the Ukrainian authorities and assist develop evacuation plans for Canadian diplomatic personnel within the occasion of a full-scale invasion.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Particular Operations Forces Command mentioned it couldn’t affirm the report, however mentioned it has supported the Ukrainian safety forces on a periodic foundation since autumn of 2020.
The report got here as Canadian International Minister Melanie Joly met Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal in Kyiv on Monday throughout a go to aimed toward discussing efforts to discourage “aggressive actions” by Russia.