Europe

Moscow will review military

strategy in face of NATO plan
for rapid-reaction force
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Russia's President Putin calls for immediate talks on "statehood"
between pro-Russian rebels and Kiev in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters)
By Karoun Demirjian and Daniela Deane
September 2 at 7:23 AM Q Follow @karoun
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MOSCOW Russia on Tuesday denounced
Ukraines moves to join NATO and said it would
review its military strategy in the face of expected
NATO plans to establish a rapid-reaction force
capable of deploying quickly to Eastern Europe.
The stand appeared certain to ratchet up tensions
between Moscow and NATO ahead of a meeting of
alliance leaders in Wales later this week, when the
alliance is expected to endorse the creation of a new
military force of some 4,000 troops capable of
moving on only about eight hours notice.
In Kiev, a Ukrainian military spokesman said 15
more Ukrainian service members have been killed in
the past 24 hours in fighting with pro-Russian
separatists backed by Russian military forces.
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Russian troops have been spotted in the rebel-held
cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as other
places in eastern Ukraine, according to the
spokesman, Col. Andriy Lysenko. He did not
elaborate. NATO has estimated that at least 1,000
Russian troops have joined the fighting in Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news
conference in Moscow that Ukraines moves to join
NATO were undermining efforts to end the war
there. He called on Washington to use its influence
to talk sense into Ukraine.
Lavrov said Kiev sought to join NATO shortly after a
meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders in
Minsk, Belarus, to seek to resolve the conflict.
So the party of peace was trying, and is still trying, to
advance a negotiated political settlement of all the
fundamental questions Ukrainians face, and in Kiev,
the party of war is taking steps clearly aimed at
undermining these efforts, Lavrov said.
Meanwhile, European leaders delayed new sanctions against
Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict.
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Aug. 31, 2014 | Pro-Russian separatists stand in front of
destroyed trains at a railway station in the eastern Ukrainian town
of Ilovaysk. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)
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Support for the strengthening of the party of war in

Kiev is actively being fueled and stirred up by
Washington and certain European capitals. The most
important thing is the need to talk sense into the
party of war in Kiev, and in large part only the United
States can do this.
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Earlier, Mikhail Popov, deputy head of the Kremlins
advisory security council, said, The fact that the
military infrastructure of NATO member states is
getting closer to our borders, including via
enlargement, will preserve its place as one of the
external threats for the Russian Federation.
He in an interview with the Russian news agency
RIA Novosti that NATO was aggravating tensions
with Russia and cited that as a key factor in
determining Moscows military strategy. He offered
no details. The statement came one day after the
Ukrainian defense minister warned of a great war
with Russia, the likes of which Europe has not seen
since the Second World War.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
said Monday that the NATO alliance would be
designing a readiness action plan complete with
a rapid-response force at its Wales meeting to
respond to Russias aggressive behavior.
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Lost territory, trapped soldiers and increasing reports
of Russian tanks and troops operating in eastern
Ukraine have changed the course of events there in
the past few days. Newly emboldened pro-Russian
separatist forces are bearing down on strategic
targets, such as the port city of Mariupol and the
airport in Luhansk, where troops retreated in the
face of a rebel onslaught Monday.
Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russia
of sending forces to significantly aid pro-Russian
separatists. Moscow denies it.
The Wales summit, which will take place on
Thursday and Friday, will also be attended by
President Obama. It will coincide with a self-imposed
deadline from the European Union to announce
further economic sanctions against Russia.
European leaders agreed over the weekend to slap
Russia with new measures within a week unless it
pulled back from Ukraine.
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Lets sit down and talk, not threaten sanctions,
Lavrov said during an address to university students
in Moscow on Monday, pushing for a cease-fire and
dismissing Europes threats as sanction inertia.
Lavrov also scoffed at the idea that pro-Russian
militias would surrender their weapons to Kiev, an
action he said would be tantamount to destroying
themselves, even as he pledged that there will be
no military intervention from Russia.
But Ukraine maintains that an intervention is well
underway.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday
accused Russia of launching direct and open
aggression against Ukraine, which he said changed
the situation in the zone of conflict in a radical way.
A spokesman for Ukraines military said Russian
forces fired on troops at the Luhansk airport Monday
and are supporting the separatists surrounding
Ilovaysk, where hundreds of Ukrainian troops have
been trapped for more than a week. Russian officials
have accused Kiev of not taking advantage of the
separatists offer to let the troops out via a
humanitarian corridor, in exchange for disarming.
During a Monday visit to Kiev, Sen. Robert
Menendez (D-N.J.) called for the international
community to respond by better arming Ukrainian
troops.
Its great to provide night-vision goggles,
Menendez said at a news conference, referencing
one form of assistance the United States approved to
send to Ukrainian troops this summer. But what
can you do if all you can do is see them but you cant
defend yourself against their attacks?
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He dismissed concerns that arming Ukraine would
spur a negative response from Russia, listing
significant events of the conflict, including Russias
annexation of Crimea in March , the downing of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and the recent battles in
the east, to make his case
Russia has done all of this without any
provocation, he said. From my perspective, this is a
Russian fight against Europe being fought out on
Ukrainian territory everything [Russian President
Vladimir] Putin doesnt care for he sees in the
Ukrainian peoples desire to turn to the West.
Pro-Russian rebels are stepping up their demands,
too. Ahead of a meeting in Minsk, Belarus, among
Kiev representatives, separatists and their
interlocutors, Andrei Purgin a rebel leader in
Donetsk told the Russian news service Interfax
that separatists intended to seek recognition of our
independence during the talks. The Monday
discussions yielded little progress.
Putin said in a television interview broadcast Sunday
that statehood for eastern Ukraine should be part
of talks to resolve the conflict, but he has repeatedly
insisted that he wants greater autonomy for the
region, not the breakup of Ukraine despite
Russias seizure of Crimea.
In the interview, Putin scoffed at Europes support
for the Kiev government, arguing that it ran counter
to purported European values.
What are the so-called European values? Putin
asked. Maintaining the coup, the armed seizure of
power and the suppression of dissent with the help
of the armed forces? Are those modern European
values?
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Our colleagues need to remember their own ideals,
he said.
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Putin stressed that a resolution to the conflict
largely depends on the political will of todays
Ukrainian leadership, but he said he did not expect
the fighting to stop before Ukraines parliamentary
elections, set for Oct. 26.
Once elected, Ukraines new parliament is expected
to vote on a law to end the countrys nonaligned
status, paving the way for it to eventually apply for
NATO membership.
Rasmussen told reporters Monday that Ukraines
chances of being adopted as a member depend on
whether the country can meet various criteria.
Deane reported from Rome. Annie Gowen in
Mariupol contributed to this report.