NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg today warned Russia of any new “offensive” on the border with Ukraine, where “significant and unusual” moves by Russian troops have been made in recent weeks.
“Any new provocation or aggression on the part of Russia would be very worrying. “We call on Russia to show transparency in military action,” Stoltenberg told a joint news conference in Brussels with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
The United States, the European Union and France have already expressed concern in recent days over the deployment of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine. Germany also called on Moscow to show “restraint”.
“We must prevent a military escalation,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in Berlin, calling on Russia to show “restraint” and “return to the negotiating table.”
“What we are seeing along the border is not just an increase in the development of military forces, because Russia has already deployed a military fleet on our border since the spring and has not withdrawn it since,” he said.
“What we are seeing now is a deterioration in the situation in which Russia shows that it can quickly mobilize already assembled troops and armaments and that all options, including military options, are on the table of the Russian leadership,” Dmitry Kuleba added.
The Atlantic Alliance is closely monitoring the situation, Stoltenberg said, reiterating that the allies consider the annexation of Crimea “illegal”. All NATO members “unanimously condemn Russia’s behavior,” he said.
The situation is very tense in the region of eastern Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. For more than seven years, Kiev has been at war with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
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