Fri, Apr 24, 2015 page7

• Putin adds troops near Ukraine: US

  • NY Times News Service, WASHINGTON
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  In a sign suggesting that the tense crisis in Ukraine could soon escalate, Russia has continued to deploy air defense systems inside eastern Ukraine and has built up its forces near the border, US officials said on Wednesday.

  Western officials are not sure if the military moves are preparations for a new Russia-backed offensive to help the separatists seize additional territory.

  Some analysts say that Russian President Vladimir Putin may not want to act before the EU reassesses in June whether to ease or keep the economic sanctions it has imposed on Russia because of its annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine.

  

  Acting U.S. State Department spokesperson Marie Harf conducts a daily press briefing at the State Department April 8, 2015 in Washington, DC.

  Photo:AFP

  Others say that it is possible that Russia is making the moves to further pressure the Ukrainian government to make concessions to the separatists on political and constitutional issues.

  Either way, the new military activity is a major concern because it has significantly reduced the amount of warning that Ukraine and its Western supporters would have if Russian forces and separatists mounted a joint offensive.

  Some of Russia’s actions, US officials say, are flagrant violations of the ceasefire agreement that European nations negotiated with Russia and Ukraine in February.

  “This is the highest amount of Russian air defense equipment in eastern Ukraine since August,” US Department of State spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.

  “Combined Russian-separatist forces continue to violate the terms of the ‘Minsk 2’ agreement signed in mid-February,” she added.

  In recent weeks, the war of words over Ukraine has intensified.

  Last week, Russia charged that a modest program to train Ukraine’s national guard that 300 US troops are carrying out in western Ukraine could “destabilize the situation.”

  To respond to this and other Russian allegations, US President Barack Obama’s administration declassified intelligence information describing a range of Russian military activities inside and near Ukraine, which is included in Harf’s statement.

  Some of the Russian military’s air defense systems in Ukraine have been moved closer to the front lines, her statement said.

  The Russian military and separatists have also kept substantial communications and other “command and control” equipment in eastern Ukraine that would be needed to organize an attack, it said, adding that the Russian military had been providing extensive training for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

  Western officials say such training might indicate that the Russian military was looking to play a less obvious role, and avoid a possible expansion of sanctions should hostilities resume.

  The deployment of Russian reconnaissance drones in the training exercise “leaves no doubt that Russia is involved in the training,” Harf’s statement said.

  Even as it has been training the separatists, the Russian military has been engaged in a buildup near Russia’s border with Ukraine, the statement said.

  “After maintaining a relatively steady presence along the border, Russia is sending additional units there,” Harf’s statement said. “These forces will give Russia its largest presence on the border since October 2014.”

  The US Department of State did not say how many Russian troops were arrayed on the border, some of whom are near the Russian city of Belgorod
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