MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti) – NATO for the first time has not ruled out that there may be signs of Russia’s preparations for withdrawing troops from areas bordering Ukraine.
“We’ve seen limited Russian troop activity vicinity of Ukraine border that may suggest that some of these forces are preparing to withdraw,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen wrote on Twitter Thursday.
“It is too early to say what this means, but I hope this is the start of a full and genuine withdrawal,” the NATO chief added.
Rasmussen stressed that “any meaningful, comprehensive and verifiable withdrawal” would be Russia’s “first step into the right direction.”
“At present, most of the previously deployed Russian force remains near the Ukrainian border. And we see continued Russian exercises in the same area,” he wrote.
The US said earlier it had received no evidence proving the troops were leaving their temporary bases near the border with Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia has pulled its troops back from regions near the border with Ukraine in order to facilitate conditions for its western neighbor’s upcoming presidential elections on May 25.
On Monday, Putin ordered the return of all troops involved in drills in the Rostov, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions on the border with Ukraine to their permanent bases to continue their military training.
Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov later confirmed that the withdrawal of troops from temporary bases near the Ukrainian border was already underway.
According to the Defense Ministry, after returning to their permanent bases the troops will begin drills starting June 1.
