NATO Commander Warns of Possible Russia Military Action
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Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, expressed concerns Sunday about Russia’s troop build-up along the border with eastern Ukraine.
For weeks now, Moscow has sent troops and heavy artillery near the border in what it claims are just military exercises.
However, with Crimea annexed and all Ukrainian military installations in their former province now under Russian control, Breedlove said that “The [Russian] force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizeable and very, very ready.”
The NATO commander added that Moscow is acting more like “an adversary than a partner.”
What Russia may be preparing to do is entering new, vulnerable territories, such as Moldova’s separatist Trans-Dniester region where Russian loyalists have pleaded with Moscow to let them become part of the federation.
However, Moscow continue to deny any ulterior motive. Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s ambassador to the European Union told the BBC Sunday that his country has no “expansionist views” and that “nobody should fear Russia.”
Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia expressed doubts, telling ABC’S This Week that his government “is trying to use all their peaceful means and diplomatic means to stop Russians but people are also ready to defend their homeland.”
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