Muristek
London/Moscow, January 30
NATO has no plans to deploy combat troops to non-NATO member Ukraine in the event of a Russian invasion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday.
Asked on BBC Television whether he would rule out putting NATO troops in Ukraine if Russia does invade, Stoltenberg said: "We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops in Ukraine ... we are focusing on providing support."
"There is a difference between being a NATO member and being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine. There's no doubt about that."
He said Europe needs to diversify its energy supplies, as Britain warned it was "highly likely" that Russia, a major natural gas supplier, was looking to invade Ukraine.
Russia has massed some 120,000 troops near its neighbour and demanded the western defence alliance pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the Western defence alliance.
US officials said on Saturday Russia's military buildup had been expanded to include supplies to treat casualties of any conflict. Across the border in Ukraine, locals trained as army reservists as the government scrambled to prepare.
Moscow denies any plan to invade but said on Sunday it would ask NATO to clarify whether it intends to implement key security commitments after earlier saying the alliance's response to its demands did not go far enough.
"If they do not intend to do so, then they should explain why," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on state television. "This will be a key question in determining our future proposals." — Reuters
Russia's troop buildup
Russia has massed some 120,000 troops near its neighbour and demanded the western defence alliance pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the Western defence alliance US officials said on Saturday Russia's military buildup had been expanded to include supplies to treat casualties of any conflict. Across the border in Ukraine, locals trained as army reservists as the government scrambled to prepareFocusing on providing support
We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops in Ukraine ... we are only focusing on providing support. — Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General, NATO
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General, NATO