Nato calls on Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine

BRUSSELS • Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called on Russia to move its troops from Ukraine's eastern border in what the alliance says is Moscow's biggest build-up since 2014, ahead of an emergency meeting of allied foreign and defence ministers.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba flew to Brussels for talks with Mr Stoltenberg a day after Kyiv accused the Kremlin of ignoring its request for talks between the two countries' presidents over a build-up of Russian troops near its border.

"In recent weeks, Russia has moved thousands of combat-ready troops to Ukraine's borders, the largest massing of Russian troops since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014," Mr Stoltenberg said yesterday.

Russia has said it moves its forces around as it sees fit, including for defensive purposes, and has regularly accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation of destabilising Europe with its troop reinforcements in the Baltics and Poland since the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea.

"Russia must end this military build-up in and around Ukraine, stop its provocations and de-escalate immediately," Mr Stoltenberg said at a news conference with Mr Kuleba.

Kyiv wanted a diplomatic solution, said Mr Kuleba.

Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame over the worsening situation in the eastern Donbass region, where Ukrainian troops have battled Russian-backed forces in a conflict Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people since 2014.

The West has expressed concern in recent weeks over a huge build-up of Russian forces close to Ukraine's eastern border and in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Kyiv in March 2014.

After releasing a joint statement on Monday with the Group of Seven's foreign ministers condemning the increase in Russian troops, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Brussels yesterday and was due to hold talks with Mr Kuleba.

Russia yesterday described the US as an adversary and told US warships to stay well away from Crimea "for their own good", calling their deployment in the Black Sea a provocation designed to test Russian nerves.

Two US warships are due to arrive in the Black Sea this week.

"The United States is our adversary and does everything it can to undermine Russia's position on the world stage," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was cited as saying by Russian news agencies.

REUTERS