Ukraine has called for a NATO 'deterrence package' to stop a Russian invasion amid new threats from the Kremlin-backed Belarusian dictator that 'Kiev is ours.'
Vladimir Putin has sent some 94,000 troops to the Ukrainian border sparking fears of an assault that would far surpass the capture of Crimea in 2014.
Russia claimed today that Ukraine had sent half its standing army, or 125,000 troops, to the Donbass region where government forces have been battling Russian-backed separatists for the last eight years.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told counterparts at a NATO summit in Latvia he was 'confident' this could be prevented using a 'three pronged approach': communications with Moscow, threat of sanctions, and military backing for Kiev.
But in response, the Russian president said Moscow would seek Western guarantees precluding any further NATO expansion and deployment of its weapons near his borders, a stern demand that comes amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the NATO summit that Washington had seen 'evidence' Russia could be planning an invasion on Ukraine, threatening Moscow with painful economic sanctions if it attacks.
And fears over such attacks deepened today as Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko told a Russian propaganda outlet: 'I will be doing everything for Ukraine to become ours. It is our Ukraine, people there are our people.'
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