Moscow: Troop pullback ordered

NATO says no sign Russians are leaving Ukraine border

Local residents talk to each other as they look at flame from a damaged gas pipe after an impact of a mortar bomb, during fighting between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian militants, outside Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, early Monday, May 19, 2014. Lawmakers and officials from eastern Ukraine on Saturday poured criticism on the fledging central government, accusing it of ignoring legitimate grievances of the regions which have been overrun by pro-Russia militia fighting for independence. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Local residents talk to each other as they look at flame from a damaged gas pipe after an impact of a mortar bomb, during fighting between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian militants, outside Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, early Monday, May 19, 2014. Lawmakers and officials from eastern Ukraine on Saturday poured criticism on the fledging central government, accusing it of ignoring legitimate grievances of the regions which have been overrun by pro-Russia militia fighting for independence. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

MOSCOW -- The Kremlin announced Monday that President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russian troops conducting exercises along the Ukrainian border to return to their home bases at the conclusion of the drills, signaling that Russia is not planning any military action in eastern Ukraine ahead of that country's presidential elections Sunday.

However, the NATO secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the Western allies had not seen any sign of a withdrawal of Russian forces. During a news conference in Brussels, Rasmussen said that it was the third such statement by Putin without any evidence of a pullback of troops or equipment from the Ukrainian border.

The Kremlin statement said Putin had ordered the withdrawal of military units conducting drills in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions of western Russia. At the same time, it called for "the immediate halt of punitive operations and use of force" by the Ukrainian government and demanded "resolution of the various problems through peaceful means alone."

Even as a series of national round-table talks have begun in Ukraine aimed at resolving the country's political crisis, the provisional government in the capital, Kiev, has pressed on with a security operation aimed at suppressing the armed pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The government refers to the separatists, who have seized some public buildings, as terrorists.

Sporadic violence, including injuries and deaths, has continued throughout eastern Ukraine in recent days. On Sunday night, local news agencies reported that armed pro-Russian separatists had seized a police station in the city of Luhansk.

The Kremlin's call for an end to the Ukrainian government's campaign against the separatists was reiterated by the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov at a news conference in Moscow on Monday.

"We still insist on the first unconditional step: a halt of the so-called anti-terrorism operation, which is turning into actions aimed at terrorizing citizens of Ukraine just for their political convictions," Lavrov said.

The Kremlin statement offered some praise for the round-table negotiations, which involve discussions of two alternate plans to give more authority to local officials.

The Kiev government is pushing a decentralization plan that would give more budget authority to municipal officials, while turning governors into regional representatives of a strong national government. Russia, meanwhile, has advocated a federalization plan that would weaken the central government in Kiev in favor of empowering regional governors.

In a sign of the continuing mistrust, Lavrov warned against any effort by Kiev to use the round-table talks as public window dressing while secretly pursuing other changes in government structure behind the scenes in Parliament.

"If the idea is to use the round tables simply as a folding screen, as a means of letting off steam, while holding the actual reform in a close manner, it will not add trust," Lavrov said.

In addition to the decentralization plan, the Kiev government has been working on broader constitutional changes. Lavrov said some proposed constitutional amendments had been shown to officials in Europe for a consultative review, and he demanded that those changes also be addressed during the public talks. The next round of negotiations has not been scheduled.

Rasmussen described the continued presence of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border as worrisome and problematic.

"So far we haven't seen any withdrawal at all, and I strongly regret that, because withdrawal of Russian troops would be a first important contribution to de-escalating the crisis," he said.

"There is no reason whatsoever why the Russians should mass military forces to that scale along Ukrainian borders," he said. "If we one day see clear evidence of a meaningful Russian withdrawal of troops from Ukrainian borders, I will be the very first to welcome it."

Rasmussen also denounced Russia for undertaking what he called "illegal military actions in Crimea" and the "illegal annexation" of the peninsula.

"What we have seen in Ukraine is outrageous," he said.

The result, he said, is a "completely different security situation in Europe. It is less predictable and more dangerous."

He warned that Russia would likely add further uncertainty by stepping up pressure on Moldova and Georgia, neither of which belongs to NATO, to back away from signing a trade and political pact with the European Union this summer.

He called on Russia to support a Sunday election in Ukraine to choose a new president to replace the country's last elected leader, Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kiev on Feb. 21 and is now sheltering in Russia.

"This is the vote that counts for Ukraine and for the international community. Any effort to delay or disrupt the elections would be an attempt to deny the Ukrainian people a choice," Rasmussen said.

NATO, Rasmussen added, is now reviewing its troop deployments and other measures to boost the security of its 28 member countries. NATO on Friday began military exercises in the Baltic state of Estonia involving 6,000 troops from the United States and eight other countries.

A Section on 05/20/2014