Russian military buildup continues around Ukraine: NATO chief

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The NATO chief said on Thursday that Russia’s “provocative” military buildup continued despite international pressure.

“We see no sign that this buildup is stopping or slowing down. On the contrary, it continues,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters following his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

During the meeting, Stoltenberg said, they discussed Russia’s military buildup in and around Ukraine that features “tens of thousands of combat-ready troops, tanks, artillery, armored units, drones, a lot of electronic warfare systems.”

He said the substantial mobilization “has no justification. It is provocative, it is destabilizing and it undermines security in Europe.”

In 2014, Russia began to support separatist forces in eastern Ukraine against the central government, a policy that it has maintained for the past seven years.

For the second time this year, Moscow reportedly concentrated military troops in and around Ukraine last month.