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NATO Drills Show It Is Preparing for Potential Conflict with Russia, Moscow Says

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks during the annual news conference of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia January 14, 2022. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERS
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks during the annual news conference of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia January 14, 2022. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERS
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NATO Drills Show It Is Preparing for Potential Conflict with Russia, Moscow Says

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks during the annual news conference of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia January 14, 2022. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERS
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks during the annual news conference of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia January 14, 2022. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERS

NATO's four-month long military exercises near Russia's borders, known as Steadfast Defender, are proof the alliance is preparing for a potential conflict with Russia, a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
The spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, dismissed accusations by NATO this week that Russia is engaged in hybrid attacks on its member states, saying this was misleading "misinformation" aimed at distracting people from the alliance's activities, Reuters said.
It was NATO that had waged a hybrid war with Russia by supporting Ukraine with arms, intelligence and finances, she said in a statement.
"Right now, NATO's largest exercise since the Cold War, Steadfast Defender, is taking place near Russia's borders. According to their scenario, coalition's actions against Russia are being practiced using all the instruments, including hybrid and conventional weapons," she said in a statement.
"We have to admit that NATO is seriously preparing for a 'potential conflict' with us."
Relations between Russia and the West have been at their most hostile in decades following the start of Russia's military conflict in Ukraine in 2022.
Announcing the start of the drills in January, NATO said 90,000 troops would take part, rehearsing how US troops could reinforce European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliance's eastern flank if a conflict were to flare up. The drills, NATO's largest exercise since the Cold War, are set to run through May.
Russia said at the time the drills marked an "irrevocable return" of the alliance to Cold War schemes.

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Ukraine Urges Investigation into Alleged Russian Chemical Weapons Use

The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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Ukraine Urges Investigation into Alleged Russian Chemical Weapons Use

The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
The logo of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is seen during a special session in the Hague, Netherlands June 26, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

Ukraine asked the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague on Tuesday to investigate the alleged use of banned toxic munitions by Russia against its forces.

A request to establish an investigation was submitted by Kyiv to the governing body of the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

It followed Dutch and German intelligence agencies on Friday saying they had evidence of widespread use of illegal weapons by Russia along the frontline.

Agency chief Fernando Arias said in a statement to the OPCW's Executive Council that in view of the alleged frequent use of dangerous chemical agents his office would step up monitoring of activity along the Russia-Ukraine conflict line, Reuters reportf.

He invited Ukraine to discuss its proposal with member states, a majority of whom may be needed to support such an investigation.

The OPCW created a similar team in 2018 to examine accusations of chemical weapons use in Syria. The Investigation and Identification Team found that Syrian government forces and Islamic State militants had used banned chemical weapons in the civil war that began in March 2011. The United States first accused Russia in May last year of using chloropicrin, a chemical compound more toxic than riot control agents and first used by Germany during World War One. The OPCW, a disarmament agency in The Hague with 193 member states, said last year that initial accusations levelled by both countries at each other were "insufficiently substantiated".

Both sides have denied using chemical weapons in the conflict, which escalated when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

"Ukraine hereby requests the Director-General of the OPCW to take steps towards establishing an independent and impartial mechanism (to) investigate cases of alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine," a copy of the request shared with Reuters said.

It asked that the mechanism be empowered to "collect additional evidence and identify perpetrators, organisers, sponsors of such use."

It was submitted at the beginning of four days of closed-door meetings by the 41-country Executive Council of the OPCW. The disarmament body had no immediate comment on the request.

At least three Ukrainian deaths have been tied to chemical weapons use, the Dutch Military Intelligence Agency said, while more than 2,500 people injured on the battlefield reported chemical weapons-related symptoms to Ukrainian health authorities.

On Monday, Britain targeted two Russian individuals and one Russian entity as part of its chemical weapons sanctions regime, in its latest effort to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine.