Moscow is seriously concerned about the situation in Donbass and believes Ukraine’s potential accession to NATO would lead to a large-scale rise in tensions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at her press briefing on Friday.
"We have taken note of a statement by Ukrainian President Zelensky, who visited Donbass yesterday and said that the country’s accession to NATO would supposedly help end the conflict in the region. However, contrary to Kiev’s expectations, hypothetical NATO accession will not only fail to bring peace to Ukraine but will, by contrast, lead to a large-scale rise in tensions in the southeast, possibly causing irreversible consequences for Ukraine’s statehood.", Zakharova said.
Zakharova called the statements of Kiev blaming Moscow for escalating tensions in Donbass "a hysteria", noting that Ukraine continues to pull new forces and weapons to the contact line.
"It [Kiev] still has an illusion that the conflict in the country's southeast can be resolved through the use of force. Troops and equipment are being deployed there, the mobilization plans for calling up reservists are being updated. Ukrainian media outlets keep ratcheting up hysteria about the alleged Russian threat and Moscow's alleged plans to attack Ukraine, virtually, tomorrow. This largely happens at the suggestion of Kiev's Western curators, with open external support", the Spokeswoman stressed.
Donbass has seen an escalation in the situation over the past few weeks. On Monday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that joining NATO is the only way for the country to put an end to the conflict. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Ukraine's accession to the alliance would only exacerbate the situation.
