04/01/2014 at 22:11 Ukraine: NATO suspends its civil and military cooperation with Russia NATO suspended Tuesday its civil and military cooperation with Russia in response to the intervention in Ukraine, while maintaining political dialogue with Moscow to promote a solution to the crisis. The Alliance also announced that it could not confirm the partial withdrawal of Russian troops deployed on the border with Ukraine. The foreign ministers of the 28 member countries decided to suspend the civil and military cooperation with Russia, said Secretary General of the Alliance , Anders Fogh Rasmussen , after a meeting in Brussels. He did not specify which programs would be affected , but stressed that those related to Afghanistan or the fight against drug trafficking would not be affected . I think cooperation projects related to Afghanistan on transit routes or helicopters should continue because we have a common interest in ensuring the success of our mission in Afghanistan, he said. NATO and Russia work also with third countries , the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean, and programs against terrorism. Gathered around the American John Kerry, the heads of diplomacy wanted to be firm without putting oil on the fire because it should not provide a pretext for Russia to revive the escalation, summarized a diplomat. NATO also seeks to reassure Eastern countries , the Baltic States and Poland in mind, which called for greater implementation of the Allies, some even arguing for permanent bases . We would welcome a stronger presence of NATO, said Polish Minister Radek Sikorski . The Alliance stands ready to take steps face any threat of aggression against the Alliance , said the ministers, without getting into operational details . At the moment, the major Western European countries prefer to stick to the measures taken in recent weeks , namely the temporary deployment AWACS radar planes of NATO, and F- 15 F-16 U.S. Lithuania and Poland. These resources are sufficient at present , said a military official . We do not need NATO troops on the border with Russia , said the chief diplomat of the Netherlands , Frank Timmermans . On the announcement of the withdrawal of Russian troops , Rasmussen said he could not confirm unfortunately . This is not what we see . The United States had already welcomed Monday with caution statements of the Russian Defense Ministry on the withdrawal of a battalion of the border with Ukraine. Mr. Kerry said Tuesday he was greet the Russian announcement, but it remained small compared to the number of troops deployed . The question is now what will follow , he has said, while Americans estimate that at least 20,000 the number of soldiers present at the eastern border of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian parliament decided to organize this years joint exercises with NATO on the territory of Ukraine and the Black Sea , which should generate strong reactions from Moscow. It also approved the disarmament of paramilitary groups who participated in the pro-European opposition and still control the center of Kiev , after a shootout caused by a member of the nationalist movement Pravy Sektor . Russia also continues to use the economic weapon against Ukraine. The boss of the Russian giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, said on Tuesday to end the rebate in December in Kiev in exchange for giving up an agreement with the European Union. This increases the price of more than a third at $ 385.5 per 1,000 cubic meters. Kiev is under threat even more sharply : the Russian authorities indicated that they could end another $ 100 rebate granted in 2010 as part of an agreement on the extension of the lease of the Black Sea fleet based in Sevastopol . This would bring Russian gas to one of the highest tariffs on European countries , while Ukraine is of great economic difficulty.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 23:43:16 +0000
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