WASHINGTON, 22 & nbsp; December./TASS /. The US State Department, after statements by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu regarding the situation in & nbsp; Ukraine, called on the & nbsp; Russian Federation to stop using “ false and & nbsp; provocative rhetoric. '' This statement was made on & nbsp; Tuesday by the press secretary of the American Foreign Ministry Ned Price.
“ Contrary to & nbsp; statements by the Russian Minister of Defense, Russia and & nbsp; the forces supporting it & nbsp; are responsible for & nbsp; escalating tensions, and & nbsp; not & nbsp; Ukraine or the United States & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; he wrote & nbsp; on his & nbsp; Twitter page. “ We & nbsp; urge Russia to stop using false, provocative rhetoric and & nbsp; to take effective measures to de-escalate tensions in order to create a positive atmosphere for & nbsp; discussions & nbsp; & nbsp; & mdash; said Price. He & nbsp; did not & nbsp; specify exactly what words of the Russian minister regarding the situation in & nbsp; Ukraine he & nbsp; comment on.
In & nbsp; turn, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby rejected statements by the Russian side about & nbsp; impending provocations in & nbsp; Donbass with & nbsp; participation of employees of American private military companies (PMCs). “These statements by the Minister of [Defense & nbsp; RF Sergei] Shoigu are completely incorrect,” & nbsp; & mdash; quoted by the newspaper Politico.
On & nbsp; Tuesday, Shoigu at a & nbsp; meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense said that & nbsp; in the settlements of Avdeevka and & nbsp; Priazovskoe, Donetsk region, the presence of more than 120 employees of American PMCs was established. They equip firing positions in & nbsp; residential buildings and & nbsp; at & nbsp; socially significant facilities, prepare Ukrainian military operations and & nbsp; radical armed groups for & nbsp; active hostilities. Shoigu also noted that & nbsp; for & nbsp; to commit provocations in the & nbsp; settlement of Avdeevka and & nbsp; the village of Krasny Liman, tanks with & nbsp; unidentified chemical components were delivered.
In & nbsp; Donbass, from the end of February, despite the & nbsp; action of additional measures to & nbsp; control over the & nbsp; truce, intensive firefights resumed. The situation worsened after the capture of the LPR representative office in the & nbsp; Joint Center for & nbsp; Control and & nbsp; Coordination of the Ceasefire by the Ukrainian security forces on October 13. The & nbsp; DNR and & nbsp; LPR note that & nbsp; Kiev deliberately provokes an escalation of the conflict.
Recently in & nbsp; Western countries, and & nbsp; also in & nbsp; Kiev, allegations have been made about & nbsp; a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. & Nbsp; The press secretary of the President of the & nbsp; RF Dmitry Peskov called such information empty and & nbsp; groundless escalation of tension. He & nbsp; emphasized that & nbsp; the movement of the Russian armed forces across & nbsp; the territory of & nbsp; the Russian Federation nor & nbsp; who does not & nbsp; should cause concern, since & nbsp; the Russian Federation nor & nbsp; is a threat to & nbsp; who is not & nbsp; With & nbsp; this, he & nbsp; did not & nbsp; ruled out the possibility of provocations to justify such statements, and & nbsp; warned that & nbsp; attempts to resolve the crisis in & nbsp; southeastern Ukraine would have the most serious consequences.