Putin lays ground for Ukraine dialogue
Print Edition
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian troops to withdraw to their permanent bases after military exercises in Rostov region near the border with Ukraine, according to Kremlin spokesman.
The troops pullout came before an expected meeting between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Milan this week.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that the Russian president had met his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu. “The minister had reported to the Supreme Commander about the completion of summer period of training on the shooting ranges of the southern military district,” Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency.
“After the report, Putin ordered to launch the return of the troops to their permanent bases ... In total, these are 17,600 military servicemen who were being trained on the shooting ranges of Rostov region in summer,” he added.
Relations between Moscow and the NATO alliance are at a post-Cold War low over Russia’s alleged actions in Ukraine, where it annexed the Crimean peninsula in March.
A month ago, NATO said Russia had several thousand combat troops and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles in eastern Ukraine supporting pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian army. Russia denies the charges but says it has a right to defend the interests of the region’s Russian-speaking majority.
The alliance said last month it had observed a significant pullback of Russian conventional forces from inside Ukraine since an uneasy cease-fire began on September 5.
The Kremlin has said Putin and Poroshenko may hold talks on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and European leaders in Milan on October 16-17.
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