Why is Moscow escalating rhetoric in the Ukraine conflict

BThe reason for the deployment of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine in Moscow was the alleged provocative behavior of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian armed forces. And now Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shojo says the “combat drills” are a response to NATO’s increased presence in Eastern Europe. This is an escalation of rhetoric: the regional conflict in which Moscow did not participate, according to its own, objectively insincere argument, becomes a state of global tensions between Russia and the West.

It is certainly no coincidence that Shojo made this statement on the day when NATO discussed the situation in Ukraine in Brussels and stood by Ukraine in clear words. If the assumption is correct that the Kremlin intends to test the West and especially the new US administration with maneuvers, Shojo has begun the inevitable next stage of testing. If Washington and the European Union countries remain resolute, and Moscow knows what the West is doing, the situation may calm down again according to this logic. But no one can say for sure what Putin and his people are really seeking. This ambiguity is what makes the situation so dangerous.