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Kremlin again says Putin has ordered troops from Ukraine

19 May 2014 19:07 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Kremlin announced on Monday President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russian forces near Ukraine back to their bases, but NATO and the United States said they saw no sign of a pullback and Moscow had failed to carry out such promises before, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops near the border regions where pro-Russian separatists have declared independent states, and Kiev and its Western allies fear they could be used to invade in support of the rebels.

Ukraine holds a presidential election on Sunday which Western countries consider a crucial event in resolving the country's crisis. The United States and EU have threatened to ramp up sanctions on Moscow if it interferes in the vote.

Ukrainian border guards said there had indeed been a decrease in Russian military activity close to the border. But the United States and the Western military alliance said there was no indication troops had pulled back.

"Unfortunately I have to say that we haven't seen any evidence at all that the Russians have started a withdrawal of troops from the Ukraine borders," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference in Brussels.

"We have seen no indication of any movement," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told Reuters.

Putin declared the right to send forces to Ukraine to protect Russian-speakers if necessary in March and quickly annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, after a pro-Russian president was toppled in street demonstrations in Kiev in February.

Armed rebels, many led by a Muscovite enthusiast of historical battle re-enactments, have seized towns and cities in eastern Russia and held a vote on independence which Western countries describe as a sham.

NATO and the United States say previous Russian pledges to pull back troops - including an announcement by Putin himself on May 7 that they had already been withdrawn - produced no significant withdrawal.

"Now I think it's the third Putin statement on withdrawal of Russian troops but so far we haven't seen any withdrawal at all," Rasmussen said on Monday. "I strongly regret that, because a withdrawal of Russian troops would be a first important contribution to de-escalating the crisis."

In a sign of the lingering tensions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said ties with the European Union and NATO needed a "substantial rethink" in light of the differences over Ukraine.