Brussels: Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia that any attempt to invade Ukraine would have costs, as concern mounts about a Russian military build-up near its former Soviet neighbour’s borders.
Ukraine says Moscow kept about 90,000 troops near their common border following massive war games in western Russia earlier this year. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said units of the Russian 41st army remain near Yelnya, about 260 kilometres north of the border.
Moscow denies that its planning any invasion and refuses to provide details about troop movements on its own territory.
If Russia uses force against Ukraine that will have costs, that would have consequences, Stoltenberg said, ahead of a meeting of the 30-nation military organisations foreign ministers in Latvia Nov 30-Dec. 1, where Russia’s activities will be high on the agenda. He did not say what those costs would be.
This is the second time this year that Russia has amassed a large and unusual concentration of forces in the region, Stoltenberg told reporters. He said it includes tanks, artillery, armoured units, drones, and electronic warfare systems, as well as combat-ready troops.
This military build-up is unprovoked and unexplained. It raises tensions and it risks miscalculations, Stoltenberg said. He conceded that there is no certainty about the intentions of Russia but said that this is a military build-up by a country that has invaded Ukraine before.
Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 after the country’s Moscow-friendly president was driven from power by mass protests. Weeks later, Russia threw its weight behind a separatist insurgency that broke out in Ukraine’s east.
Ukraine and the West accused Russia of sending its troops and weapons to back the rebels. Moscow denied that, saying that Russians who joined the separatists were volunteers. More than 14,000 people have died in the fighting that devastated Ukraines eastern industrial heartland known as Donbas.
A 2015 peace agreement brokered by France and Germany helped end large-scale battles, but efforts to reach a political settlement have failed and sporadic skirmishes have continued along the tense line of contact. AFP
