With Buildup on Land and Sea, Russia Closes in on Ukraine
The New York Times
Military drills in Belarus, deployments in western Russia and Crimea, and planned naval exercises in the Black Sea gave an ominous undertone to a continuing diplomatic scramble.
MOSCOW — Thousands of Russian troops on Thursday began 10 days of exercises in Belarus, and Ukraine warned of upcoming Russian naval drills so extensive they would block shipping lanes, as the Kremlin continued to tighten its military vise on Ukraine.
In Moscow, Russia’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov, gave a bleak assessment of the diplomatic efforts aimed at deterring a full-scale invasion. He dismissed his talks with his British counterpart as a conversation of a “mute person with a deaf person,” asserting again that the West was not seriously addressing Russia’s most pressing concerns.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was slightly more conciliatory, telling reporters on Thursday that negotiations with the West were continuing over Russia’s demands to reshape the security architecture of Eastern Europe. He said Russia was preparing written responses in its back-and-forth with the United States and NATO, and added that he planned to speak by phone in the coming days with President Emmanuel Macron of France.
