EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell speaks during a videoconference meeting with EU Foreign Ministers to discuss the situation in Ukraine at the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, 19 April 2021. Francois Walschaerts / Pool via REUTERS
Russia has deployed more than 150,000 troops to Ukraine’s border and annexed Crimea, EU senior diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday after EU foreign ministers were briefed by Ukraine’s foreign minister.
“There are more than 150,000 Russian soldiers gathering on Ukraine’s borders and in the Crimea. The risk of further escalation is obvious,” Borrell said, refusing to provide a source for the figure.
He said no new economic sanctions or expulsions of Russian diplomats were planned for the time being, despite the fact that military construction on Ukraine’s borders was the largest ever.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, after addressing EU foreign ministers, called on the EU to impose new sanctions on Russia.
Tensions between Moscow and Kiev have risen amid military build-up and clashes in eastern Ukraine between the military and pro-Russian separatists.
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