NATO accuses Russia of more military build-up around Ukraine
February 16, 2022, 5:08 pm

NATO accuses Russia of more military build-up around Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington, United States (File photo: Nato Facebook page)

The Jerusalem Post reported, citing Reuters, NATO accused Russia on Wednesday of sending more troops to a massive military build-up around Ukraine, even as Moscow said that it was withdrawing forces and was open to diplomacy.

At the start of two days of talks among NATO defense ministers, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg appeared unconvinced the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine had lessoned, and voiced guarded hopes for diplomacy.

Soltenberg said: "We have not seen any withdrawal of Russian forces. And of course, that contradicts the message of diplomatic efforts." He added that "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."

TASS news agency cited Russia's ambassador to Ireland as saying on Wednesday, the configuration of Russia's armed forces in the west of the country will return to normal in three to four weeks.

The western military district said on Wednesday, Russian armed forces have started returning to permanent military bases after loading tanks and other military vehicles onto railway wagons.

Russia military exhibition (File photo: Pixabay)

Russia's defense ministry published video on Wednesday that it said showed a column of tanks and military vehicles leaving annexed Crimea across a railway bridge after drills, adding that some troops would also return to their permanent bases.

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Moscow announced a partial pullback of forces from near Ukraine on Tuesday. The move was met with skepticism, however, and US President Joe Biden said that more than 150,000 Russian troops were still amassed near Ukraine's borders.

Russia wants NATO to publicly state it will not admit Ukraine into the military alliance, RIA news agency cited Vienna-based Russian diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov as saying on Wednesday.

World powers are engaged in one of the deepest crises in East-West relations for decades, jostling over post-Cold War influence and energy supplies as Moscow wants to stop the former Soviet neighbor ever joining the NATO military alliance.

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On Wednesday morning, video footage showed what the defense ministry said were tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery units leaving the Crimean peninsula that Moscow seized from Kyiv in 2014.

"Combat equipment and military personnel will be delivered by military trains to the units' permanent deployment points," the defense ministry said. "Upon arrival, the equipment will be serviced and prepared for carrying out the next phase of combat training."

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The video, published by the RIA news agency, showed dozens of military vehicles crossing the bridge at night.

A separate convoy of service vehicles drove across a different bridge, the TASS news agency cited the military as saying.

Source: jpost

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.