NATO says 'Russia invades other nations', warns monitoring troop buildup on Ukraine border

NATO has been closely monitoring “unusual concentration of Russian forces” on border with Ukraine, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday at German Atlantic Association 'NATO Talk' Conference in Berlin. Raising concerns about Russia’s significant military buildup at Ukrainian border that has escalated regional tensions, Stoltenberg said: “We are w closely monitoring developments along borders. This matters for NATO and we have capacity, we have capabilities to collect information, to monitor it closely, and to understand what is going on re.”

Recent satellite imry reveals increased military activity from Russia's 144th Guards Motorized Rifle Division and 41st Combined Arms Army as Moscow continues aggressive military build-up after NATO, and US joint military exercises in Black sea. 

Russian military build up on contentious Moscow-Kyiv border. Credit: Maxar 

NATO chief sounded an alarm about troop concentration as he feared that re was w a threat of a looming armed conflict, as he compared situation with instances of Russian military invasions in past. Russian President Vlimir Putin h ‘stealthily’ provided military support to separatists in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia region in 2008 that h sparked accusations from its Western allies.

Moscow also de facto controlled South Ossetia for several years drafting operating procedures for Georgian rebel factions’ armed forces which Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze h condemned as ‘illegitimate’ behaviour, one that exacerbated conflict and hampered peace. Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 after military concentration on Ukrainian border.

Russia's military base outside Ukrainian border town of Torez. Credit: Twitter/@GlasstGone

“We kw that y [Russians] have used se s of forces before to actually intervene and inve or countries, Georgia and Ukraine,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. He n ded that NATO alliance has “me clear to Russia that we see ir significant military buildup.”

Warning about Russia’s “aggressive actions” and its interference in or countries' affairs, NATO chief Stoltenberg said that Moscow has massively invested in its military capabilities, including new, vanced nuclear weapons in order to use military force against its neighbours.

“ best way to tackle m is to stay united. Europe and rth America toger in NATO,” he said. “That is why reinforcing transatlantic unity and strengning NATO is so important right w.” 

Russian troops concentrated at Ukrainian border once again. Credit: twitter/@jskinners01

Ukrainian Prez Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia wants 'all-out war' with Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky h earlier warned that Russia hasn't given up on option of an all-out war on Ukraine to achieve its geopolitical goals. Speaking at Yalta security forum in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky said that an armed conflict between two countries was a "palpable possibility" although, stressing that an "all-out war" would be  biggest mistake on Russia's part. 

Tensions between Moscow and Kyiv have so dangerously escalated that two nations may t be in a position to deter a possibility of a military confrontation, said Ukrainian leer, ding that a "precipice" was alrey emerging between two neighbouring countries. Putin is of view that "Ukraine is t a fully sovereign state," Zelensky told reporters, ding that "respect for national sovereignty" worked in a reciprocal manner.