NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine continues. At the beginning of this month, Western intelligence services saw that Russia had gathered 75,000 to 100,000 soldiers there.
“We see them pulling together more and more armed forces – artillery, combat troops and tanks,” he said in Brussels on the sidelines of a meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Ciucă.
Stoltenberg also said he wants to talk to the Russians as soon as possible. “We remain open to consultations and I intend to convene the NATO-Russia Council as soon as possible in the new year.”
That council is a consultative body in Brussels where NATO and Russia can discuss security issues. She last met in July last year. Russia did not accept subsequent invitations.
Hard iron Kremlin
The Kremlin announced Friday the hard requirement that NATO is distancing itself from Ukraine and withdrawing virtually all its troops and weapons from former Warsaw Pact member states such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
President Putin reiterated that demand today. In a speech to top Russian officers, he blamed NATO for the rising tensions. NATO has expanded further and further east since the late 1990s. “The situation got worse and worse,” Putin said. “And now we’re in a situation where we have to sort it out somehow.”
–
