Russia building up, not withdrawing, troops near Ukraine, says US and NATO

GBNEWS24DESK//

The United States and NATO have said Russia is still building up troops around Ukraine, despite Moscow’s insistence it was pulling back, report agencies.

Russia has said military drills in Moscow-annexed Crimea had ended and that soldiers were returning to their garrisons.

However, NATO said the troop buildup was continuing, questioning Moscow’s stated willingness to negotiate a solution to the crisis.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken backed NATO’s assessment in a morning television interview.

“There’s what Russia says and then there’s what Russia does. And we haven’t seen any pullback of its forces,” Mr Blinken told MSNBC.

“We continue to see critical units moving toward the border, not away from the border. What we need to see is exactly the opposite. We need to see these forces moving away.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a pullout would be welcome, but that moving troops and tanks back and forth did not amount to proof it was really happening.

“We have not seen any withdrawal of Russian forces. And of course, that contradicts the message of diplomatic efforts,” Stoltenberg said before a meeting of the alliance in Brussels. “What we see is that they have increased the number of troops and more troops are on their way. So, so far, no de-escalation.”

EU leaders will consider the “latest developments” regarding Russia’s build-up of military forces.

Russia’s announcement comes a day after it said a first troop pullback from Ukraine’s borders.

“Units of the Southern Military District, having completed their participation in tactical exercises, are moving to their permanent deployment points,” Moscow’s defence ministry said in a statement.