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Ukraine provoking Russia to gain more West support: Analyst

Friday, 02 December 2016 3:18 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 02 December 2016 3:21 PM ]

Soviet-made tactical ballistic missile complexes Tochka (Point) roll during a military parade in Kiev on August 24, 2016 to celebrate Independence Day, 25 years after Ukraine gained independence from the former Soviet Union. (Photo by AFP)

Ukraine’s declaration of the start of a two-day major missile test near the Crimean Peninsula has stirred tensions with Russia which regards the region as part of its territory. Moscow had already warned against the intrusion of missiles into Crimean skies and threatened to take retaliatory military action. However, Kiev says the tests are legitimate and in conformity with international law.

Marcus Papadopoulos, editor of Politics First, believes this is a potentially dangerous situation, and that no maneuvers involved in the live firing of missiles can be categorized as "innocent".

“I sincerely hope that the Ukrainian government will see sense and will reconsider pursuing what is a very, very dangerous approach to the Russian Federation, because firing live missiles into Russian airspace could potentially threaten commercial airliners which means potentially bringing down commercial airliners, resulting in the deaths of civilians,” the analyst told Press TV in an interview on Friday.

He also argued if the Ukrainian government is serious about not wanting to provoke Russia, it should put an end to these maneuvers.

However, he said, the Ukrainian government is trying to goad Russia in order to gain more “sympathy, respect and support” from the West.

Papadopoulos also pointed out that the Ukrainians are trying to keep the issue firmly on the radar of Washington so that if the Russian military responds to these maneuvers, they can ask for US support.

The analyst further noted if the Ukrainian military fires missiles into Russia’s airspace, then the Russian air defense systems will have every right under international law to shoot those missiles down.

He went on to say that if a missile strikes a Russian commercial airliner or vessel, the Ukrainian government would be responsible and Moscow would have every right legally and morally to take a “decisive” action against Kiev.

According to the analyst, Russia has been unbelievably tolerant of the threats to its national security, asserting that it should be lauded for not reacting in an aggressive way to NATO’s military build-up on its borders.

Relations between Moscow and Kiev worsened after the Crimean Peninsula rejoined Russia in a referendum in March 2014.

The ties deteriorated further after Kiev started a military crackdown in the two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, where there is a push for greater autonomy from Ukraine.

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