MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Russia believes provocative actions on the part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces against the self-proclaimed Donbas republics are very likely, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Mikhail Popov said.
"European countries will bear responsibility for highly probable provocations against the DPR and LPR [the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics] on Kyiv's part, including with the use of various kinds of nationalistic units and mercenaries," Popov said in an interview published in Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
"On the pretext of an imaginary Russian threat, the Americans have coerced their NATO allies into closing their ranks and demanded that they increase the amount of weapons and ammunition shipped to Ukraine," he said.
Washington earlier demanded that its allies urgently station U.S. troops relocated there and give consent to more such deployments in the future, he said.
"That is, timid attempts by a number of Western European countries to remain independent have been counterbalanced by the U.S. resolve to tighten control over the European continent through its expanded military presence," Popov said.