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NATO Chief Warns Russia Against Further Intervention In Ukraine

April 02, 2014

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says it would be an 'historic mistake' if Russia intervened further in Ukraine following the annexation of Crimea.

On April 2, Rasmussen said Russia's military buildup on the Ukrainian border was a 'matter of grave concern.' Western officials have said tens of thousands of Russian forces have massed in the region.

'These Russian military armed forces are at very high readiness,' he said. 'This is really a matter of grave concern. If Russia were to intervene further into Ukraine, I wouldn't hesitate to call it an historic mistake.'

Rasmussen was speaking after a two-day NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.

His remarks came one day after the NATO ministers suspended all 'practical' civilian and military cooperation with Russia in response to last month's annexation of Crimea.

They also agreed to draft measures to strengthen alliance defenses and reassure eastern NATO members who may feel menaced by Russia's actions in Ukraine.

On April 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern over NATO's decisions to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said the NATO statements resembled Cold War-era rhetoric.

'The language of the [NATO] statement sounds more like a verbal snippet from the Cold War era,' he said. 'It is difficult to imagine who in today's world is going to gain from the curtailment of Russia-NATO interaction, countering such modern threats and international security challenges as terrorism, piracy, natural and human-made disasters. In any case, it definitely won't be Russia, and definitely not the NATO member states.'

The head of President Vladimir Putin's administration, Sergei Ivanov, said Russia was concerned about reports of possible military buildups in eastern NATO members.

Earlier on April 2, NATO's top military commander was quoted as saying analysts believe Russia already has all the forces it needs on Ukraine's border if Moscow were to decide to carry out an 'incursion' into the country.

NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, described the situation on the border as 'incredibly concerning.'

He told interviewers from the Reuters news agency and 'The Wall Street Journal' that Russia could achieve the military goals of any Ukrainian incursion in between three to five days.

With reporting by Reuters and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-nato-chief-warns-russia/25318761.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.