Today, Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic announced that Ukraine has deployed about 120,000 of its military forces on the border with Donbas.

"We know what kind of the latest equipment is supplied to Ukraine, and we need to somehow counter it. We are inclined to agree with the position expressed by Russia that supplying weapons to only one side of the conflict is, accordingly, suffocating the other side of the conflict," Natalia Nikonorova, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Donetsk.

She also confirmed that "Kyiv has moved a large part of its military forces to the borderline of the conflict zone in anticipation of any confrontation with Moscow, in addition to a Western military presence represented by officers from Western countries coordinating with Kyiv."

In an interview for Al Mayadeen, Nikonorova had said the situation on the border that separates the Donbas region from the areas under the control of the Ukrainian army is tense, adding, "But I cannot say that it is escalating further."

She stressed that the seriousness of the situation relies on the military intelligence of the Donetsk self-proclaimed Republic constantly providing information indicating that the Ukrainian forces are bringing more and more vehicles, personnel, equipment, and fuel to the contact line, which could indicate preparations for provocative action."

On January 26, Al Mayadeen's reporter quoted a  source from the Presidency of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic as saying, "The latter welcomed the initiative of Russian parliamentarians to arm the Donetsk and Lugansk republics for self-defense."

Al Mayadeen's reporter said that "Russian parties support the proposal to arm the Donetsk and Lugansk republics for self-defense." 

This came after the First Deputy Chairman of the International Committee in the Russian State Duma, Vladimir Jabarov, said that military aid to the Donbas region may be provided in the form of defensive weapons.

US advisors in Ukraine 

Earlier, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported that two advisors from the United States began working in the Ministry permanently. The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said the European Union was preparing to send a mission to Ukraine to train high-ranking personnel for the Ukrainian army. 

"The presence of foreign armed persons, armed units is also a violation of these very Minsk agreements. The withdrawal of any foreign armed units is directly stated there. What is the collective West doing? Everything is exactly the opposite: these weapons and units are being taken to Ukraine," Nikonorova told Sputnik in an interview.

According to her, this is a question for the countries-guarantors of the Minsk agreements. "We expect that appropriate influence will be exerted, pressure on Kyiv so that these violations stop, as well as the pumping of Ukraine with weaponry. It is necessary to return Ukraine to a peaceful negotiation track," Nikonorova said.