Russian, US, Ukraine, Embassies in Montenegro Argue Over Ukraine Crisis

Russian ambassador in Montenegro Vladimir Maslenikov at a celebration in Podgorica. Photo: Government of Montenegro

On February 9, the Ukrainian embassy accused its Russian counterpart in Podgorica of spreading falsehoods about NATO's alleged expansionism and attempts to include Ukraine, calling it a direct threat to Russian security.

"Russia has for years occupied Ukrainian territories, carries out armed aggression in the [eastern] Donetsk and Lugan regions, launches a wide anti-Ukrainian information-propaganda campaign and finally concentrates a powerful military group on our border… while at the same time, according to Moscow, the aggressors are NATO and Ukraine," a Ukrainian embassy press release said.

The diplomatic spat escalated after the US ambassador, Judy Rising Reinke, had an article published in the local media on February 3 in which she urged American and Montenegrin citizens to stand together with Ukraine against "Russian aggression" to ensure a free and stable Europe.

"Together with our allies and partners, we will help Ukraine in its efforts to defend itself from further Russian aggression… Our friends in Montenegro are also very important for this effort," Reinke said.

On February 8, the Russian embassy responded by accusing the US ambassador of promoting NATO expansionism and anti-Russian propaganda in Montenegro. It recalled that Montenegro was hit by NATO airstrikes during its 78-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999 over Kosovo.

"Official Podgorica, which the Americans are so persistently calling to fight against fictitious Russian aggression, should keep in mind that many scenarios, which the US tested on the Ukrainian test site, are being transferred to the Balkans, and thus to Montenegro", the...

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