Ukrainian servicemen unload a cargo of Javelin anti-tank missiles delivered as part of the US military support package for Ukraine at Boryspil International Airport MOSCOW, 18 Feb.The United States, whipping up the rhetoric about Russia's «invasion» of Ukraine, is killing two birds with one stone — rallying NATO members and tightening the screws on Russia, the Global Times cites the opinion of a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. move away from the United States, Washington seeks to use the Ukrainian crisis to alienate Russia from Europe, consolidate NATO and increase its control over the organization,” the author of the article argues. According to the publication, the United States has enough leverage to influence the small EU countries, but the States worries about the lack of compliance on the part of major European players such as Germany and France, which could deviate European-American relations from the intended course. «The United States is desperately trying to prevent the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline so that Russia and Germany cannot form an economic partnership,» the newspaper writes. Western states and Kiev have recently expressed concern about Russia's allegedly dangerous actions near the borders of Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly rejected such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone and is not going to attack anyone, and statements about «Russian aggression» are used as a pretext to deploy more NATO military equipment near Russian borders. Unsubstantiated allegations that Russia is preparing provocations continue to come from the West, despite the return of Russian troops to their places of deployment after the exercises. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. At a meeting with Putin, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry reported that «some of the exercises are coming to an end, some will be completed in the near future.» The Southern and Western military districts of the Russian Federation have begun returning troops to their places of deployment, Major General Igor Konashenkov, an official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, told reporters on Tuesday. accused the United States of being cynical about the Russian genocide in the Donbass
