Russian troops ‘directly involved’ in Ukraine conflict

Ukraine and the West said Thursday that Russian troops were actively involved in the fighting tearing apart the east of the country, raising fears of a direct military confrontation between Kiev and its former Soviet master.

The UN Security Council began an emergency meeting on the growing crisis with the United States envoy Samantha Power demanding Russia “stop lying” over the conflict.

President Barack Obama was due to speak in Washington at 2000 GMT Thursday as other US officials raised the prospect of fresh sanctions against Moscow over its involvement in the latest fighting.

“Russia has to stop lying and has to stop fuelling this conflict,” Power told the 15-member security council as European leaders urged Moscow to change course or suffer “very serious consequences.”

She added: “The mask is coming off. We see Russia’s actions for what they are: a deliberate effort to support and now fight alongside illegal separatists in another sovereign country.”

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described the situation as “extremely difficult” but “manageable for us not to panic”, as security chiefs announced that mandatory army conscription will restart in the autumn.

NATO said at least 1,000 Russian troops were on the ground supporting pro-Kremlin separatists who have been fighting against Kiev’s rule since April.

A senior Ukrainian diplomat earlier decried the move as a “direct invasion” but Moscow again insisted none of its soldiers were on Ukrainian soil.

But US officials accused Russian troops of being behind a lightning counter-offensive that has seen pro-Moscow rebels seize swathes of territory from government forces, dramatically turning the tide in the four-month conflict.

Kiev said Russian soldiers had seized control of a key southeastern border town and a string of villages in an area where fighting had been raging for days.

– Russians ‘directly involved’ –

The US ambassador to Kiev Geoffrey Pyatt wrote on Twitter that Moscow’s troops were now “directly involved in the fighting” in Ukraine.

A NATO official said the supply of weapons to the rebels had also increased in both “volume and quantity,” with a diplomatic source later adding that ambassadors to the alliance would hold an emergency meeting Friday.

EU leaders warned of possible further penalties against Moscow, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying a Saturday summit will discuss new sanctions.

Fears that the flare-up in the Ukraine conflict could lead to all-out war pushed stocks down in Europe.

Russia’s ruble also sunk to a five-month low as stock markets in the country plummeted over the possibility of new Western sanctions against Moscow.

Kiev had called on the West for urgent help after a counter-offensive from the southeast border smashed through an army blockade around the separatist stronghold of Donetsk and threatened the government-held port city of Mariupol.

The gains by the separatist fighters come after weeks of government offensives that had seen troops push deep into the last holdout rebel bastions in Ukraine’s industrial heartland.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for having “deliberately unleashed a war in Europe” and pleaded for urgent action.

A top rebel leader, Alexander Zakharchenko, admitted Wednesday that Russian troops were fighting alongside his insurgents, but said they were on “holiday” after volunteering to join the battle.

The spiralling tensions come only days after Poroshenko and Putin held their first meeting in three months, but they failed to achieve any concrete breakthrough despite talk of a peace roadmap.

Italian premier Matteo Renzi, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, warned Putin in a phone call that the “entry of Russian troops into Ukraine” is “an intolerable escalation which will lead to very serious consequences”.

The United States and the EU have already imposed a series of punishing sanctions on Russia over the crisis, the worst standoff between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

– ‘Large-scale’ military aid –

The latest claims of Russian manoeuvres are sparking fears that Moscow is seeking more than Crimea, which it annexed in March in the face of Western outrage.

“The latest newsflow from eastern Ukraine suggests an increased risk that Russian President Putin may go well beyond snatching Crimea and de-stabilising the pro-Western government in Kiev. Instead, he is edging closer to an almost-invasion to occupy parts of southeastern Ukraine,” said Berenberg bank analyst Christian Schulz.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday the Kremlin was “not interested in breaking up” Ukraine.

The United Nations estimates the conflict has killed over 2,200 people and forced more than 400,000 to flee since April.

Yatsenyuk said on Wednesday it was time for NATO to act, calling for “practical help” when it holds a summit in Wales next week that will be attended by Poroshenko.

Russia vehemently opposes closer ties between Ukraine and NATO.

And concerns that Kiev could be drawn closer into the Western security alliance — and towards Europe — are seen as a key motivation behind Russia’s actions in recent months.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU also appealed for the bloc to agree on “large-scale” military assistance when European leaders meet on Saturday.

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