NATO secretary-general: “I don’t see any signs of troop withdrawal”… Reports of Donbass engagement fear ‘pretext for invasion’
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) [로이터 연합뉴스 자료사진]
BRUSSELS (Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Jong-un = U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday rejected claims of a Russian troop withdrawal, saying Russia is moving troops closer to the Ukrainian border and landing more fighter jets. said this.
Defense Minister Austin said in Brussels, Belgium, who was visiting a meeting of NATO member defense ministers on the same day, “I was a soldier not long ago. I know I don’t do these kinds of things for no reason.”
“I don’t do that, especially if I’m packing up and getting ready to go home,” he explained.
“We are seeing them operate more combat and support aircraft, sharpen their combat readiness in the Black Sea and even stockpile blood,” Austin added.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also said on the same day as the previous day that there had been no signs of Russia’s withdrawal or easing of tensions.
“There are signs from Russia that diplomacy can continue, but so far we have not seen any signs of withdrawal or easing of tensions,” Stoltenberg said.
“They have enough troops and capabilities to launch an all-out invasion of Ukraine without warning,” he said at a press conference following the meeting.
Stoltenberg also said he was concerned that Russia might be trying to create an excuse for an invasion of Ukraine following being asked regarding reports of clashes between government forces and pro-Russian separatist rebels in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Stoltenberg added, however, that “there is still neither clarity nor certainty as to Russia’s intentions.”
The meeting was held amid continuing tensions over concerns regarding a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier that day, Ukrainian forces launched mortar and grenade attacks in the Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels, Russian news agency Sputnik and Rianovosti reported.
A day before the 16th, which the US designated as the expected date for a Russian invasion, Russia announced on the 15th that some units that had completed training at the Ukraine border were returning and expressed their intention to continue dialogue with the West, but this has not led to a full-fledged easing of tensions.
Western countries, including the United States, have countered that Russia has increased its troops, despite the fact that Russia has not yet observed a significant withdrawal of its troops.
A high-ranking U.S. official also claimed that Russia’s announcement that soldiers from training near the Ukrainian border on the 16th were “false”.
kje@yna.co.kr
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