BRUSSELS, November 4 (RIA Novosti) — NATO has recently been seeing Russian troops approaching the Ukrainian border, alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.
"Recently we [NATO] are seeing Russian troops moving closer to the border with Ukraine," Stoltenberg said at a joint press conference with EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini.
NATO Chief also claimed that Russia "continues to support separatists by training them, by providing equipment and support them by also having Russian Special Forces inside eastern parts of Ukraine".
Stoltenberg has once again called on Russia to influence the independence supporters in the southeast of Ukraine and to "make genuine efforts towards a peaceful solution".
Relations between Russia and NATO have been strained since the alliance accused Russia of meddling in the Ukrainian situation, a claim that Russia has repeatedly denied. Following Crimea's reunification with Russia in March 2014, NATO boosted its military presence close to Russia's border, specifically in Poland and the former Soviet Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
In April, the 28-member state bloc froze its cooperation with Russia, only maintaining contacts at the ambassadorial and higher levels.
On October 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to begin the withdrawal of some 17,600 troops who took part in military drills in the southern Rostov Region. Hours later, the Defense Ministry reported that the redeployment of the troops had already begun as ordered.
According to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian troops in the Rostov region have been in the area since this summer to participate in massive drills and have no ties to the situation in Ukraine, though the West has consistently accused Russia of being militarily involved in the conflict.
The Ukrainian government and the West have long accused Russia of funneling heavy equipment, arms and rebels across the Ukrainian border to support the independence movement in the country's east. Russia has repeatedly denied any such involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, which it calls a purely internal affair.
