Russia said on Thursday
it was moving troops and military equipment from border regions
near Ukraine, but NATO said a large "coercive force" remained in
place.
A withdrawal of forces from the border regions could ease
tensions before Ukraine's presidential election on Sunday,
which the United States and EU hope will strengthen the
embattled central government.
Moscow has previously failed to keep promises to move troops
back from the frontier with eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian
separatists have declared independence.
Ukraine and its Western allies view them as a potential
invasion force, given Moscow's statements that it has the right
to intervene in its former Soviet neighbour in order to protect
Russian-speakers.
A NATO general said on Thursday that Russia was moving
troops, though he said the size of the movement was unclear and
that forces near the border remained a potential threat.
"The force that remains on the border is very large and it's
very capable and remains in a very coercive posture," U.S. Air
Force General Philip Breedlove, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander
Europe, told a news conference.
NATO had previously put the number of Russian troops on the
border at 40,000 but Breedlove said it was too early to classify
their current size.
Russia's defence ministry said on Thursday 15 transport
planes and 20 trains carrying personnel and military equipment
had been moved out of the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk provinces
bordering Ukraine after completing military exercises there.
It did not say how many troops were being moved or how many
were staying behind.
"The moving of units is continuing, having completed planned
exercises testing military preparedness in field conditions, to
loading stations," a defence ministry statement said.
"TOO EARLY TO TELL"
Kiev has accused Moscow of sowing disorder in its mostly
Russian-speaking east where pro-Russian separatists have
declared independence and asked to join Russia.
Moscow denies destabilising Ukraine and has stopped short of
endorsing the regions' independence or annexing the territories
like it did Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in March.
The Pentagon acknowledged some movement of Russian forces
off the border, but said it was only small numbers so far. It
declined to offer estimates.
"It's too early to tell exactly what it all means. And the
Russians still have a force along the border there that,
frankly, is right now capable of even offensive military
operations, should they choose to do so," Pentagon spokesman
Colonel Steve Warren said.
The U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Daniel Baer said the United
States would welcome the withdrawal of troops but said current
movements were not enough to confirm movement towards a complete
removal of the forces.
He also criticised Russia's plans to hold air force
"exercises" near the border with Ukraine on the same day as the
presidential election.
"These are not the actions of a helpful de-escalating
government," said Baer speaking in a teleconference with
journalists around Europe from Vienna.
Russia's Defence Ministry plans to hold what it calls a
competition of air force pilots that will include more than 50
jet fighters hitting ground targets and a display of manoeuvres
to evade anti-aircraft rockets.
The competition is planned to be held in the Voronezh and
Lipetsk provinces, less than 200 km (124 miles) from the
Ukrainian border.
(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington,; Editing
by Mark Trevelyan and Philippa Fletcher)
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