Brussels, Feb 16 (Agency) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the movement of the Russian troops does not confirm their withdrawal. “Russia has always moved its forces back and forth, so battle tank movement doesn’t confirm withdrawal of Russian forces,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference. The secretary general also said that Russia has “increased the number of troops” near Ukraine. Meanwhile, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the UK had seen no evidence that Russia was withdrawing its troops from the Ukrainian border as Moscow had claimed.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that Russia was withdrawing some forces away from the border with Ukraine and from Crimea where Russian personnel participated in military drills. “What we haven’t seen is evidence of withdrawal that has been claimed by the Kremlin,” Wallace told Sky News broadcaster from Brussels, where he is scheduled to meet with fellow NATO defense ministers later in the day. He claimed that the “latest intelligence” is that there were over 100 battalion tactical groups of the Russian ground forces, 130,000 plus troops and a significant flotilla of Russian amphibious landing ships, war ships and missile ships at sea.
However, when asked if Russia was lying about troop withdrawals, Wallace said that it was “too soon to tell”. In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have reported Russia of build-up troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for an invasion. Moscow has denied these accusations stating that it is not threatening anyone and at the same time expressing strong concerns over NATO’s military activity near the Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security. Moscow has also said Russia has the right to move troops within its national territory.