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Russian forces to quit Ukrainian border after exercises: Lavrov
by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) April 03, 2014


NATO hits out at Russian 'propaganda'
Brussels (AFP) April 03, 2014 - NATO hit back on Thursday at accusations by Moscow that the Western alliance was in violation of international law and accused Russia of fomenting "propaganda and disinformation" over the crisis in Ukraine.

"No, of course we haven't violated the Rome Declaration and I'm actually surprised that Russia can claim that NATO has violated its commitments because Russia is violating every principle and international commitment it has made," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

"First and foremost the commitment not to invade other countries," he said, speaking at a joint news conference with Estonia's new prime minister Taavi Roivas.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier on Thursday warned NATO that it should not deploy additional forces in the alliance's Eastern European member states as this would violate its agreements with Russia.

NATO has in the past weeks deployed AWACS reconnaissance aircraft over Poland, and the United States has sent additional fighter jets to step up NATO's air patrols over the Baltic states.

Rasmussen said NATO had "not received questions from Russia" about the deployments and that "anyway, these accusations are just propaganda and disinformation."

Earlier this week, NATO said it was suspending all practical cooperation with Russia and warned that Moscow forces, currently massed on the Ukraine border, could invade wide swathes of the country in a matter of days.

Russian troops deployed close to the Ukrainian border will return to base after completing their exercises, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

"After finishing training in the Rostov region (bordering Ukraine), one of the battalions that took part has already returned to base in the Samara region."

"As they finish the tasks given to the participants in exercises, the other units will also return to their permanent bases," Lavrov said at a news conference with his Kazakh counterpart.

Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin had given the same assurance to German Chancellor Angela Merkel when they last spoke on the phone on Monday.

The Russian defence ministry on March 31 said that it was pulling back a battalion from the Rostov region and that the troops were returning to the Samara region, which is around 950 kilometres (600 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Lavrov stressed that Russia was free to deploy its troops within its own borders and said that "our Western partners recognise that in a legal sense there is no problem here."

The Russian defence ministry has said that its troops have been deployed to carry out several rounds of training exercises in regions close to Ukraine.

Lavrov accused the new authorities in Kiev and Western powers of exaggerating Russia's military presence on Ukraine's borders.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday the buildup that the alliance estimates at 40,000 troops was a "matter of grave concern."

The alliance's troop commander General Philip Breedlove has also said Russian troops are poised to attack within 12 hours and could invade vast portions of Ukrainian territory in three to five days.

But Lavrov called on them to "de-escalate the rhetoric", saying: "I would not blow this topic out of proportion as the current Ukrainian authorities and their Western protectors are trying to do."

He in turn warned NATO that it should not deploy additional permanent forces in the alliance's Eastern European member states according to its agreements with Russia.

"As for plans to increase the military presence of NATO forces on the territory of Eastern European member countries... there should not be additional permanent military presence on the territories of Eastern European countries," Lavrov said.

NATO said Wednesday it had stepped back from a floated idea to reinforce the alliance's military presence in countries bordering Russia, preferring for now to suspend cooperation with Moscow and give more time to talks.

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