The US allowed Ukraine to bomb Donetsk, and threatens to punish Russia for returning fire
Moscow - Kyiv, November 13 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - Washington would like to observe the ceasefire in the Donbass, but recognizes the right of Ukraine to defend itself and its territory, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki noted. Therefore, the United States will not punish Kyiv for shelling Donetsk, but if Russia helps the militias respond to aggression, it will face new sanctions.
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The US and the EU "continue to work closely together to seek measures that will hold Russia to a higher price for its unacceptable behavior," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said during a regular briefing. "We, our allies, and partners will prepare to expand and deepen existing sanctions," she emphasized. Psaki did not specify specific measures or timelines, specifying only that new sanctions would be imposed if the parties fail to find ways to resolve the conflict in southeastern Ukraine, Vedomosti reports.
Washington would like to respect the ceasefire, but recognizes Ukraine’s right to defend itself and its territory, a State Department spokeswoman noted. At the same time, “every additional aggressive action (from Moscow) escalates our response and raises the level of discussion,” Psaki said.
The West accuses Moscow of organizing the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine. Psaki said she did not have new information, but referred to information from NATO, which has recorded several convoys with military and equipment from Russia over the past two days in eastern Ukraine.
The weekly report of the OSCE monitoring mission records “the highest number of movements of people in military uniform” in both directions of the Russian-Ukrainian border since monitoring began.
The movement of vehicles for transporting the wounded and dead was also recorded. Thus, on November 11, observers noticed trucks marked “Cargo 200,” used to transport the bodies of “military personnel killed in battle.” The vans left Russia for Ukraine and returned back a few hours later.
US Permanent Representative to the UN Samantha Power spoke about maintaining Russia's military presence on the territory of Ukraine since the ceasefire came into force. “We have evidence that Russian military equipment is operating near one of the separatist convoys, which, according to our data, Russia does not supply to the separatists, which means it is used by the Russian armed forces,” RIA Novosti reported her words.
Russia denies the accusations against itself, the newspaper recalls.