Joint exercises between NATO and Ukraine are in the interests of the alliance, not Kyiv - Russian Defense Ministry
Moscow - Kyiv, March 31 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - Ukraine’s holding of joint exercises with NATO is not so much in the interests of Kyiv, but in the interests of the alliance, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. “NATO is expanding its presence in Eastern Europe, regarding the region as a kind of springboard,” the military says.
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President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko yesterday signed a decree on the participation of Ukrainian armed forces in multinational exercises that will take place in the country in 2015. It is expected that during the maneuvers, units of the US armed forces, NATO member states and countries participating in the Partnership for Peace program will have access to the territory of Ukraine “with weapons, military equipment, ships, submarines, airplanes and helicopters.” As Petro Poroshenko’s press service reported yesterday, this year Ukraine will host “a number of Ukrainian-American exercises” (including Fearless Guardian, Sea Breeze and Saber Guardian/Rapid Trident), as well as Ukrainian-Polish exercises of aviation units (“ Safe Sky”) and military police units (“Law and Order”).
The Russian Ministry of Defense reacted with restraint to Petro Poroshenko’s decree. “Ukraine is a sovereign state that has the right to decide where, with whom and when to conduct exercises. NATO countries are no exception in this matter,” said a high-ranking source in the department.
Nevertheless, according to Kommersant , concerns about the upcoming exercises remain among operational military command bodies, even though the maneuvers are not supposed to take place in close proximity to Russia's borders. A source in the General Staff is convinced that NATO is thus raising the threat level for Russia.
NATO and Ukraine 's joint exercises are in the interests of the alliance, not Kyiv – Russian Defense Ministry