NATO military exercises in Ukraine provoke parties to escalate the conflict, secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Nikolai Bordyuzha has said.
“I see the military exercise being conducted in Ukraine as
provocation, causing the situation to deteriorate,” he told reporters on Sept. 22.
Holding military exercises on the territory of a country which is in a
state of civil war, “when the ceasefire is not being observed in full,
is tantamount to provoking the conflict to continue,” he said.
“This reminds me of a situation where two are fighting and the third
is putting a knife in one of the fighters’ hand. This is how I see the
exercise which NATO is conducting in the territory of Ukraine,”
Bordyuzha said.
He said it would be premature to assert that the peace plan signed in
Minsk is being fulfilled. “But positive trends are making themselves
felt,” Bordyuzha said. “What is most important, there are no massive
skirmishes or shelling attacks on populated areas, which inspires
optimism. I do hope that the Minsk Protocol and subsequent agreements
will rule out the use of arms against civilians and the militia,” he
said.
