President Vladimir Putin has warned that any countries attempting to “interfere” in Ukraine will be faced with a swift response from Moscow.
Addressing lawmakers in St Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin said all decisions on how the Kremlin would react in the event of a threat to Russia’s “strategic security” have already been taken.
“If anyone would want to interfere with what’s happening in Ukraine now, from the outside, they have to know Russia’s response will be swift and fast,” he said.
“We have all sorts of tools that the West cannot obtain, and we will not boast of our weapons but we will use them if need be and I want everyone to know that.”
Meanwhile, the head of the European Union’s executive Commission says energy companies in the 27-nation bloc that agree to Moscow’s demands to pay for gas deliveries in roubles will be breaching the sanctions it has imposed against Russia.
“We have about 97 percent of all contracts that explicitly stipulate payments in euros or dollars, so it’s very clear. And the request from the Russian side to pay in rubles is a unilateral decision and not according to the contracts,” Ursula von der Leyen said at a news conference in Brussels.
Von der Leyen also denounced Russia’s decision to cut off supplies to Poland and Bulgaria as another “provocation from the Kremlin” and said that both countries are now receiving gas from their EU neighbors following an urgent meeting of member states.
Ukraine’s deputy defence minister has accused Russia of being ready to use Transnistria as a bridgehead to move troops onto Ukrainian territory or the remainder of Moldova.
Hanna Malyar’s comments came after local authorities in the Moscow-backed breakaway region reported a string of alleged attacks in recent days.
Russia says it is closely following events in Transdniestria. The Russian foreign ministry was this week quoted by the country’s RIA Novosti news agency as saying that it wants to avoid a scenario in which Moscow would have to intervene there.
Aljazeera
