US Patriot air defense missiles deployed near the Polish border with Russia<\/p>\n
Ukraine has called on the United States to send troops and anti-missile systems to the country, in a controversial move that has prompted Russia to warn of retaliation.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Reznikov made the request during a visit to Washington, he said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important to expand the security package for Ukraine,\u201d\u00a0Reznikov said.\u00a0\u201cFirst of all, with the stationing of air defense forces, and even by deploying American units.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n He argued that under Ukraine\u2019s legislation, foreign troops were allowed to be stationed in the country.<\/p>\n Russia, which has long warned the US and its NATO allies against sending military forces close to its borders, described Reznikov\u2019s request as a \u201ccrude provocation.\u201d<\/p>\n The Russian state foreign affairs committee chairman, Leonid Slutsky, said in a message on Tuesday that the deployment of US military forces near the Russian border \u201cwill undoubtedly evoke Moscow\u2019s response\u201d and that \u201ctensions will merely soar.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt is regrettable that Ukraine\u2019s laws allow for stripping it of what is still left of its sovereignty, and its citizens, of a chance to live in security,\u201d Slutsky said.\u00a0He said Kiev would \u201csacrifice\u201d the nation\u2019s sovereignty \u201cto prolong\u00a0their participation in the anti-Russia project.\u201d<\/p>\n Relations between Moscow and Kiev have been strained\u00a0since conflict erupted in Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donbass region between Ukrainian government forces and ethnic Russians in 2014.\u00a0The US, the European Union, and Ukraine claim that Russia has a hand in the conflict. Moscow strongly rejects the allegation.<\/p>\n That same year, the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea voted to fall under Russian sovereignty in a referendum, further complicating relations.<\/p>\n Moscow and Washington have deep-seated differences over a host of other issues as well, including arms control, human rights, and cybersecurity.<\/p>\n