Brussels - Russia continues efforts to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and it is obvious that its troops crossed the border illegally, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said.
“Despite Moscow’s hollow denials, it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border into eastern and southeastern Ukraine,” he said after a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission in Brussels on Aug. 29.
He said that Russian forces were engaged in direct military operations inside Ukraine.
“Russia continues to supply the separatists with tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and rocket launchers. Russia has fired on Ukraine from both Russian territory and within Ukraine itself,” Rasmussen said.
He said that this was a blatant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Noting the importance of diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution, Rasmussen said that representatives of the alliance expressed strong solidarity with Kyiv at the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission on Aug. 29.
“At the Wales Summit next week, we will meet (Ukrainian) President (Petro) Poroshenko to make clear NATO’s unwavering support for Ukraine,” he said.
Rasmussen reiterated that NATO condemns in the strongest terms Russia’s continued disregard of its international obligations and urges Russia to cease its illegal military actions, stop its support to armed separatists, and take immediate and verifiable steps towards de-escalation of the grave crisis.
