BERLIN (Dispatches) -- Germany on Monday urged Russia to exercise “restraint” at the Ukrainian border amid growing concern in the West about Russian troop movements in the area.
“In order not to further aggravate an already tense situation, it’s important for Russia to exercise restraint with regard to military activities and movements” along the border with Ukraine, German foreign ministry spokesman Christofer Burger told reporters. “We are watching these military activities by Russia with concern.”
“NATO remains vigilant. We are monitoring this situation very closely,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg Stoltenbeg said after a meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister.
“Any further provocation or aggressive actions by Russia would be of serious concern. We call on Russia to be transparent about its military activities,” Stoltenberg said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week it would be a “serious mistake for Russia to engage in a repeat of what it did in 2014”, when it seized Crimea from Kiev.
Ukraine remains locked in a festering conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country that started seven years ago.
Russia President Vladimir Putin said in an interview aired Saturday that the U.S. and other NATO allies are carrying out provocative action by sailing warships in the Black Sea close to its territory.
Russia’s ministry of defense said it detected six flights by NATO spy planes in airspace over the Black Sea, part of what it described as intensifying reconnaissance by the Western military.
The Russian military also said it was tracking U.S. naval ships in the Black Sea and accused Washington of studying the region as a potential theatre of war.
The U.S. has delivered more than $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the Crimea conflict in 2014, including Javelin anti-tank missiles. The Senate’s version of the 2022 defense budget increases the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative from $250 million to $300 million per year, including $75 million specifically for lethal assistance.
Rep. Don Bacon, member of the House Armed Services Committee, said that the U.S. should “help Ukraine have the weapons and training they need to deter Russia. Our stance should have zero ambiguity.”