NATO warns Russia against interfering in eastern Ukraine

By Ian Davis, NATO Watch

NATO warned Russia today against meddling in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian protesters seized government buildings and demanded secession from Ukraine. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Moscow to pull back its troops from the border between the two countries, reported Stars and Stripes. “If Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine, it would be a historic mistake,” Rasmussen told journalists in Paris. “I continue to urge Russia to pull back its troops, fulfill its international commitments and engage in a constructive dialogue with the Ukrainian government,” he added.
 
At a press conference after a NATO transformation seminar in Paris, the Secretary General said that the crisis raises serious questions for Euro-Atlantic security that would need to be addressed at the Summit in Wales in September, adding “We must prepare a readiness action plan. We must reinvest in our defence. And we must reinforce the transatlantic bond”. (See the Secretary General's video blog here).
 
Yesterday, NATO said it would limit Russian diplomats' access to alliance headquarters in Brussels as a further consequence of its decision to suspend cooperation with Moscow taken at the recent NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting. "The formerly extensive access to NATO headquarters will be denied to all representatives of the Russian Mission (to NATO), except the Russian ambassador, his deputy head of mission, and two support staff," NATO said in a statement. The new rules would still give Russian diplomats a level of access to NATO headquarters that was never granted by any Russian ministry or institution to NATO staff working in Moscow, NATO said.
 
Moscow says it has no intention of invading eastern Ukraine, but the annexation of Crimea, combined with the presence of more than 30,000 Russian troops near the border, has sparked concerns that Russia may intervene on the pretext of protecting Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.
 
Over the weekend, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that NATO will strengthen its presence in Poland within weeks, although NATO sources suggest reinforcements to Eastern Europe are likely to be on 'rotating deployments' rather than permanent basing. “The strengthening of NATO’s presence (in Poland), also military presence, has become a fact and will be visible in the coming days, weeks,” Reuters reported Tusk as saying. “The discussion is not about if, but rather about the scale, pace and some technical aspects of strengthening Poland’s security.”
 
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Warsaw would be “fully satisfied” if NATO stationed two heavy brigades in Poland. But that seems unlikely.
 
Rasmussen has said that NATO's response is in keeping with a 1997 cooperation pact with Russia, which allows the alliance to defend east European members through reinforcements rather than by permanently stationing extra combat forces.
 
Also over the weekend, Czech President Milos Zeman suggested that the West should take strong action, possibly including sending NATO forces to Ukraine, if Russia tries to annex the eastern part of the country, Reuters reported.  

 Meanwhile, the United States will deploy F-16 fighter jets to Romania later this month as part of planned joint exercises, a separate Reuters report stated. "American F-16 jets will be in Romania ... because we have planned joint exercises in Romania's air space during this time, and they will stay for a pretty long period," Romania's Defence Minister Mircea Dusa said.