NATO Secretary General calls n Russia to withdraw troops from border with Ukraine
POLITICS
23.12.2021 | 19:40NATO has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to take advantage of the upcoming vacation to withdraw his armed forces from the Ukrainian border. Russia has the opportunity to ensure a peaceful and relaxing Christmas for everyone, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with the German News Agency. To do this, the country must reduce tensions and withdraw its troops.
According to the NATO Secretary General, now tens of thousands of troops Russia has assembled near Ukraine. “This is a significant military build-up and there is no sign of stopping or slowing down this deployment,” he said.
The Norwegian has left open the question of whether he suspects the troop movements were primarily an attempt by Russia to extort concessions from NATO on security matters. “There is uncertainty about Russian intentions,” he said. Given Russian demands for additional NATO security guarantees, he was ready to speak – but rejected ideas that NATO might, for example, not accept Ukraine.