NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe General Philip Breedlove said the alliance is seeing "some movement" of Russian troops on the Ukraine border, but its significance is unclear.
Russian officials have said on several occasions recently that they
are withdrawing their troops, and NATO has repeatedly said it has seen
no evidence of that. But in the past days, surveillance has
revealed actions by Russian troops, including the loading up of
mechanized vehicles, which could suggest a pullback.
“We have seen movement. It is too early to classify the size and
nature of it,” General Breedlove said in Brussels on May 22, following
a meeting of NATO military chiefs.
“But the scope of the movement we have seen so far is not going to
affect the capability of the very large force that’s there now.”
General Breedlove’s comments echoed similar remarks by NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen earlier in the day.
NATO officials said nothing less than a complete drawdown of forces would be acceptable.
“One hundred percent pullback would be the right answer,” Breedlove
said. “These forces were brought to the border in the name of an
exercise. They should return to their pre-exercise areas. As long as
they remain in the border area or near the border, they remain a
coercive force.”
For now, he added, the effect on the Russian force of about 40,000 troops is negligible.
“Nothing has changed,” he said. “We’ve only seen a small movement of
forces. The force that remains on the Ukrainian border right now is able
to do what it could do a week ago or two weeks ago.”
