Russia has concentrated more than 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s border and in annexed Crimea, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday after EU foreign ministers were briefed by Ukraine’s foreign minister.
“It is more than 150,000 Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian borders and in Crimea. The risk of further escalation is evident,” Borrell said, declining to give a source for the figure.
He said no new economic sanctions or expulsions of Russian diplomats were planned for the time being, despite saying that the military build-up on Ukraine’s borders was the largest ever.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, after addressing EU foreign ministers, called on the EU to impose new sanctions on Russia.
Tensions between Moscow and Kyiv have been rising amid the military build-up and clashes in eastern Ukraine between the army and pro-Russian separatists.
Earlier, Russia reinforced its naval presence in the Black Sea and sent two warships. These warships transited the Bosphorus on Saturday along with 15 smaller vessels. These maneuvers have come at a time when Russia-Ukraine relations are strained over Russian military presence on its border with the country.
Moscow calls the huge troop buildup a temporary defensive exercise.
The Russian warships that transited the Bosphorus are Ropucha-class landing ships from Russia’s Northern Fleet. The ships are capable of carrying tanks and troops for the coastal assault.
More Russian naval reinforcements in the form of two more landing ships, this time from Russia’s Baltic Fleet, are expected to imminently transit the Bosphorus.
The RIA news agency on Saturday also reported that 15 smaller vessels from Russia’s Caspian Flotilla have completed their transfer to the Black Sea as part of an exercise.
In a further sign of heightened tensions in the region, a ship carrying logistics trucks and equipment for NATO forces in Romania transited the Bosphorus on Friday evening.
