NATO: Russia must withdraw forces from Ukraine

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - The chief of the NATO military alliance on Thursday urged Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev, broadcast live on the NATO website, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said they discussed the security situation in eastern Ukraine.

"Russia must end its support for the militants in eastern Ukraine, and withdraw its forces and equipment from Ukrainian territory," he stressed.

Stoltenberg said NATO fully supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Zelensky, for his part, thanked Stoltenberg for NATO's support.

"We are prepared to cooperate closer to speed up our preparation to NATO membership," he said.

Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads since 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula after a controversial referendum.

Both the UN General Assembly and Turkey view the annexation as illegal.

Ukraine also blames the Kremlin for separatist violence in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, near the border with Russia.

Some 13,000 people have been killed, a quarter of them civilians, and as many as 30,000 wounded in that conflict, the UN said earlier this year.