NATO is not yet aware of the withdrawal of Russian troops away from the Ukrainian border, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said. “On the contrary, it seems that Russia is continuing with the military build-up.”
“So far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground,” Stoltenberg said before the start of talks with defence ministers of NATO countries. “What we see is that they have increased the number of troops, and more troops are on the way.”
The cautious optimism he expressed on Tuesday was based on signals from the Kremlin that it is willing to seek a diplomatic solution, the secretary-general of the Western military alliance said. But “we have not seen a withdrawal, and that is of course at odds with that”.
The United States previously reported indications that Russia would invade Ukraine on Wednesday. Although Moscow dismisses such reports as “information terrorism”, Kyiv complains about scaremongering and credibility is also questioned in the West.
“We will continue to reveal Russia’s plans and actions to make it more difficult for Russia to act aggressively against Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.