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dpa
Brussels
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned a build-up of “thousands” of combat-ready Russian troops at Ukraine’s borders as “unexplained, unjustified and deeply concerning” following a meeting with Kiev’s foreign minister on Tuesday.
At a Brussels press conference, Stoltenberg spoke of the “largest massing of Russian troops since the illegal annexation of Crimea” and called on Moscow to reverse this, “stop its provocations and de-escalate immediately.” Recent reports of Russian military activity in and around Ukraine as well as ceasefire violations have sparked international concern that the seven-year conflict between the two nations could escalate again.
Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula after a controversial referendum in 2014. Western governments still consider Crimea to be part of Ukrainian territory.
Parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions - collectively known as Donbas - along the Russian border are controlled by rebels supported by Moscow.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who met Stoltenberg at the defence alliance’s headquarters in Belgium, said Russia was gathering troops in north-eastern Ukraine, in Crimea in the south and in Donbas.
If Moscow makes any “reckless move” or starts a new “spiral of violence ... it will be costly in all senses,” Kuleba said, adding that Kiev does not want war.
The Ukrainian official also met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels later Tuesday. Blinken stressed the US’ concern over Russia’s escalation of tensions, “through its aggressive rhetoric and disinformation, increasing ceasefire violations, and movement of troops,” according to a read-out from his spokesperson Ned Price.
Brussels
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned a build-up of “thousands” of combat-ready Russian troops at Ukraine’s borders as “unexplained, unjustified and deeply concerning” following a meeting with Kiev’s foreign minister on Tuesday.
At a Brussels press conference, Stoltenberg spoke of the “largest massing of Russian troops since the illegal annexation of Crimea” and called on Moscow to reverse this, “stop its provocations and de-escalate immediately.” Recent reports of Russian military activity in and around Ukraine as well as ceasefire violations have sparked international concern that the seven-year conflict between the two nations could escalate again.
Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula after a controversial referendum in 2014. Western governments still consider Crimea to be part of Ukrainian territory.
Parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions - collectively known as Donbas - along the Russian border are controlled by rebels supported by Moscow.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who met Stoltenberg at the defence alliance’s headquarters in Belgium, said Russia was gathering troops in north-eastern Ukraine, in Crimea in the south and in Donbas.
If Moscow makes any “reckless move” or starts a new “spiral of violence ... it will be costly in all senses,” Kuleba said, adding that Kiev does not want war.
The Ukrainian official also met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels later Tuesday. Blinken stressed the US’ concern over Russia’s escalation of tensions, “through its aggressive rhetoric and disinformation, increasing ceasefire violations, and movement of troops,” according to a read-out from his spokesperson Ned Price.
