With Moscow announcing its troops have begun returning to their bases following exercises in Belarus, close to the border with Ukraine, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he sees hope for diplomacy to put an end to the standoff between Russia and the West.
Speaking at a news conference ahead of a meeting with defense ministers from member states on Tuesday, the military bloc’s chief set out his assessment of the current climate on the Russian-Ukrainian demarcation line.
“So far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground, we have not seen any signs of reduced Russian military presence on the border with Ukraine,” he claimed. “But we will continue to monitor and to follow closely what Russia is doing.”
According to the former Norwegian prime minister, however, there are “signs coming from Moscow about the willingness to continue to engage in diplomatic efforts. That gives us some reason for cautious optimism, but we will of course follow very closely what is happening on the ground.”