Europe

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy urges West not to stir ‘panic’ over ‘imminent invasion’ by Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised the Western states for stirring up panic by warnings of an imminent Russia invasion, saying the panic-triggering alerts are placing a heavy burden on the country’s economy.

 “I don’t consider the situation now more tense than before. There is a feeling abroad that there is war here. That’s not the case,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference with foreign media on Friday.

He called on the West to avoid creating “panic” in the face of the Russian troop buildup on Ukraine’s border, stressing, “We don’t need this panic.”

“The greatest risk for Ukraine … is the destabilization of the situation inside the country,” Zelenskyy added, asking, “Because of all these signals that tomorrow there will be war, there are signals even from respected leaders of states, they just say that tomorrow there will be war. This is panic — how much does it cost for our state?”

Russia and the US-led NATO have recently been at odds over Ukraine. Western countries accuse Russia of preparing for an invasion of Ukraine by amassing 100,000 troops and armaments near the border with that country. Rejecting the allegation, Moscow says the troop build-up is defensive as NATO has increased its activity near Russian borders.

Last month, the Russian government demanded that the Western military alliance deny Ukraine membership at NATO and roll back its military deployments.

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