WASHINGTON, November 5 (RIA Novosti) — The United States is concerned about NATO’s statements on alleged Russian troops movement close to the border with Ukraine, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Tuesday during a press briefing.
“We remain concerned about reports, although I do not have independent confirmation of those. Certainly, we often work closely with NATO as you know on these types of issues and tracking, but we are concerned about any reports that Russia is taking escalatory actions of which troop movements would certainly be one of them. And that would certainly be a violation of the Minsk protocols of which we continue to press all parties to abide by,” Psaki said.
“That certainly puts a strain on the ceasefire. But we believe that the ceasefire is… and the Minsk protocols that have been put in and have been agreed to is the best mechanism for a path forward. So we will continue to work with the both sides,” she added.
Earlier on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg claimed that the alliance has recently seen Russian troops moving closer to the border with Ukraine.
Relations between Russia and NATO have deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. The alliance has repeatedly accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs, sending troops to Ukraine, and went as far as to claim that Moscow planned to invade Ukraine. However, none of these statements were supported with any evidence.
Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the Ukrainian internal conflict and said that all of the country's actions are in accordance with the international law.
The Minsk protocol was signed on September 5 during a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine. The meeting resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the Ukrainian government and the independence supporters from eastern Ukraine.
