‘Russia wants to start a third world war,’ Ukrainian prime minister says
Baird ramped up the war of words with Russia from Latvia onFriday, his latest stop on a multi-country eastern European tour aimed at demonstrating Canadian solidarity with some of Russia’s worried neighbours and its NATO allies.
Baird said Russia faces further sanctions that will only isolate it further unless it stops its provocative actions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian gunmen have exerted their authority following last month’s Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
“There is no doubt that Russia continues to ramp up its propaganda machine, all the while accusing the West of some sort of plot to control Ukraine,� Baird said. “Such ridiculous statements show just how out of touch — and out of touch with reality — the leaders are in the Kremlin.�
Baird said halting Russia’s dangerous actions remains a priority for the free world.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper also reiterated that concern during remarks to a business audience in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.
“This is really for the first time since the 1930s, since the events that led to the Second World War, where you have a major power now articulating that it has a right — for ethnic reasons, essentially, but other reasons — to essentially seize and control and take over territory adjacent to it,� Harper said.
“In a case like this, regardless of some short-term economic consequences for ourselves as well as for the Russians, we simply cannot ignore this development. This is very threatening, and the guy who’s doing it runs a very large security operation that is potentially a very significant menace to the region and to the wider world.�
Ukraine’s reaction was swift.
“The world has not yet forgotten World War II, but Russia is already keen on starting World War III,� Ukraine’s acting prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a meeting of his cabinet.
At the United Nations, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Danylo Lubkivsky said he feared an imminent Russian invasion.
“We have the information we are in danger,� Lubkivsky told reporters, saying Russian military manoeuvers involving air and ground forces along Ukrainian border were a “very dangerous development.�
“We are going to protect our motherland against any invasion,� Lubkivsky said. “We call on the Russians to stop this madness.�
The heightened rhetoric came as U.S. officials reported that Russian fighter jets flew into Ukrainian airspace several times over the last 24 hours, in what one called a provocation.
It wasn’t clear what the intent was, but the aircraft could have been testing Ukrainian radar or making a show of force, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the issue.
The flights came as Russia increased military exercises along the Ukrainian border, including moving a broad array of fixed wing and rotary aircraft, infantry and armoured troops — further inflaming fears of a potential Russian military incursion into Ukraine.
In another worrying development, a group of foreign military observers travelling under the auspices of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe were detained by pro-Russia separatists in Slovyansk.