By Tom Balmforth and Andrey Ostroukh

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia saved up a barrage of hostile rhetoric in the direction of Ukraine on Thursday and in contrast the disaster there to probably the most harmful second of the Chilly Warfare because it waited for U.S. President Joe Biden to ask it to attainable talks with NATO international locations.

The Russian Overseas Ministry accused Ukraine of shifting heavy artillery in the direction of the entrance line of preventing with pro-Russian separatists within the east of the previous Soviet republic and failing to interact in a peace course of.

“Negotiations on a peaceable settlement have virtually hit a useless finish,” ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova instructed reporters, referring to the seven-year battle between Ukrainian and separatist forces within the jap Donbass area.

The ministry’s Twitter (NYSE:) feed, quoting Zakharova, stated: “With the assist of NATO international locations pumping the nation with weapons, Kyiv is build up its contingent on the road of contact in Donbass.”

Deputy Overseas Minister Sergei Ryabkov agreed with a reporter who urged East-West tensions over Ukraine may flip right into a re-run of the 1962 Cuban missile disaster, when the USA and the Soviet Union stood getting ready to nuclear conflict.

“, it actually may come to that,” Interfax information company quoted him as saying. “If issues proceed as they’re, it’s fully attainable by the logic of occasions to abruptly get up and see your self in one thing related.”

The feedback got here two days after a video name between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin that was meant to assist defuse the disaster over Ukraine.

They signalled that Moscow has an curiosity in protecting tensions excessive whereas ready for the following transfer from Biden, who has stated he plans to carry follow-up talks involving Russia and NATO international locations.

Ukraine, which seeks to hitch NATO, says it fears an invasion by tens of hundreds of Russian troops gathered close to its border. Moscow says its posture is only defensive.

“FIGHTING BY OURSELVES”

Ukrainian Overseas Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated Kyiv expects to be supported by Western army allies even when the USA doesn’t ship troops there, an motion that Biden has dominated out https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-both-sides-follow-up-quickly-putin-biden-talks-2021-12-08.

“We shall be preventing this conflict by ourselves,” Kuleba instructed traders in London. “We all know how one can battle. We don’t want overseas troops preventing for us. However we’ll respect something that may strengthen our military by way of army provides.”

Ukraine’s army accused the Russian-backed separatists within the east of the nation of six new violations of a broken-down 2020 ceasefire on Thursday, three of them involving weapons banned below earlier peace offers that Moscow and Kyiv say they’re attempting to revive.

Interfax quoted a Ukrainian official as saying Kyiv was proposing a humanitarian trade of as much as 60 prisoners by New Yr.

In Tuesday’s video name, Biden voiced concern about Russia’s army build-up and instructed Putin that Moscow would face severe financial penalties if it invaded.

Putin has stated discuss of an invasion is “provocative” and accused Ukraine and NATO of fanning tensions.

Biden stated the following day he hoped for an announcement by Friday of high-level conferences with Russia and main NATO allies to debate Moscow’s issues and the potential for “bringing down the temperature alongside the jap entrance”.

Russia’s Ryabkov described this as a “unilateral” assertion, implying the U.S. aspect had not mentioned it with Moscow.

Requested if Russia would object to the participation of different NATO members, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated: “We can not say, as a result of there is no such thing as a understanding of how all this shall be organized.”