MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday the partial mobilization of his country’s military reserves in a move that follows Ukrainian gains in a counteroffensive in northeastern Ukraine.
Putin said in a televised address the mobilization is necessary to protect Russia’s homeland and sovereignty.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military would be calling up 300,000 reservists.
Putin said the West is trying to weaken and destroy Russia, and that his country will “use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people.”
“In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed every line,” he said. “This is not a bluff. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.”
After Putin spoke, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he is calling an urgent meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers Wednesday night in New York, following what he characterized as a “major escalation” by the Russian leader.
“By the threat of using nuclear weapons, he is trying to intimidate Ukraine and all countries that support Ukraine,” Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. “But he will fail. He has failed, and he will fail again.”
Borrell said the international community cannot accept such a threat, and that leaders at the U.N. this week must react.
(VOA)
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