Recent military spending in Kiev suggests imminent use of force in Donbass, diplomat warns – world

MOSCOW, December 24. / TASS /. The decision of the Zelensky administration to increase the country’s defense budget by 20% could indicate that Kiev is preparing to use military force to resolve the Donbass conflict, a spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Affairs said on Friday. foreigners Maria Zakharova at a briefing.

“Kiev seems to be preparing to use military force to solve the Donbass problem, as they call it, instead of ending the civil war that has been raging for seven years,” she said. “In an address at the Verkhovna Rada [parliament], Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal has announced his intention to increase the country’s defense budget to nearly $ 12 billion next year, ”she said. “This $ 12 billion is allocated for a war against their own citizens, the people they mention so often and only think about when they sign a defense budget. Ukraine’s defense spending increased by 20%. How can we expect peace? ”Zakharova concluded.

According to her, the situation along the contact line in the Donbass continues to worsen. “Over the past two weeks, the OSCE Special Observation Mission has recorded nearly 7,000 ceasefire violations, and I would like to stress that this is five times more than in December 2020” , stressed the Russian diplomatic spokesperson. “What does this mean? It means gunshots and explosions are happening in the area every three minutes or so, endangering someone’s life,” Zakharova said.