Lavrov: Pasukan Rusia Keluar Perbatasan Ukraina Sesudah Pelatihan
Lavrov: Russian Forces to Quit Ukrainian Border after Exercises
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
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Moskow (B2B) - Pasukan Rusia di dekat perbatasan Ukraina akan kembali ke pangkalan setelah menyelesaikan pelatihan, kata Menteri Luar Negeri Sergei Lavrov pada Kamis.
"Setelah menyelesaikan pelatihan di wilayah Rostov (berbatasan dengan Ukraina), salah satu batalyon pesertanya telah kembali ke pangkalan di wilayah Samara," katanya.
"Sesudah menyelesaikan tugas kepada peserta dalam latihan itu, satuan lain juga akan kembali ke pangkalan tetap mereka," kata Lavrov dalam jumpa pers dengan timpalannya dari Kazakstan, seperti dilansir Yahoo News.
Lavrov menyatakan Presiden Vladimir Putin memberikan jaminan sama kepada Kanselir Jerman Angela Merkel ketika mereka terakhir berbicara di telepon pada Senin.
Kementerian Pertahanan Rusia pada 31 Maret menyatakan menarik satu batalyon dari wilayah Rostov dan bahwa pasukan itu kembali ke wilayah Samara, sekitar 950 kilometer dari perbatasan Ukraina.
Lavrov menekankan bahwa Rusia bebas menyebarkan pasukannya di dalam perbatasannya dan bahwa "mitra Barat mengakui bahwa dalam arti hukum, tidak ada masalah".
Kementerian pertahanan Rusia mengatakan pasukannya dikerahkan untuk melakukan beberapa pelatihan di wilayah dekat Ukraina.
Lavrov menuduh pemerintah baru di Kiev dan kekuatan Barat melebih-lebihkan kehadiran tentara Rusia di perbatasan Ukraina.
Sekretaris Jenderal NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen pada Rabu menyatakan pengerahan itu, yang persekutuan itu perkiraan 40.000 tentara, "sangat memrihatinkan".
Komandan pasukan persekutuan itu, Jenderal Philip Breedlove, juga menyatakan pasukan Rusia siap menyerang dalam 12 jam dan bisa menyerbu wilayah luas Ukraina dalam tiga hingga lima hari.
Lavrov meminta mereka mengurangi retorika itu, dengan mengatakan, "Saya akan tidak mengeluarkan soal ini dari proporsinya seperti pemerintah Ukraina saat ini dan pelindung Barat mereka coba lakukan."
Ia kemudian memperingatkan NATO tidak mengerahkan pasukan tetap tambahan di negara anggotanya di Eropa timur sesuai dengan perjanjian dengan Rusia.
"Tentang rencana meningkatkan kehadiran pasukan NATO di wilayah negara anggota Eropa Timur, seharusnya tidak ada tambahan kehadiran tetap tentara di wilayah negara Eropa Timur," kata Lavrov.
NATO pada Rabu menyatakan mundur dari pemikiran memperkuat kehadiran tentaranya di negara berbatasan dengan Rusia, dengan lebih memilih menangguhkan kerjasama dengan Moskow dan memberi lebih banyak waktu untuk pembicaraan.
Moscow - Russian troops deployed close to the Ukrainian border will return to base after completing their exercises, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.
"After finishing training in the Rostov region (bordering Ukraine), one of the battalions that took part has already returned to base in the Samara region."
"As they finish the tasks given to the participants in exercises, the other units will also return to their permanent bases," Lavrov said at a news conference with his Kazakh counterpart.
Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin had given the same assurance to German Chancellor Angela Merkel when they last spoke on the phone on Monday.
The Russian defence ministry on March 31 said that it was pulling back a battalion from the Rostov region and that the troops were returning to the Samara region, which is around 950 kilometres (600 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Lavrov stressed that Russia was free to deploy its troops within its own borders and said that "our Western partners recognise that in a legal sense there is no problem here."
The Russian defence ministry has said that its troops have been deployed to carry out several rounds of training exercises in regions close to Ukraine.
Lavrov accused the new authorities in Kiev and Western powers of exaggerating Russia´s military presence on Ukraine´s borders.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday the buildup that the alliance estimates at 40,000 troops was a "matter of grave concern."
The alliance´s troop commander General Philip Breedlove has also said Russian troops are poised to attack within 12 hours and could invade vast portions of Ukrainian territory in three to five days.
But Lavrov called on them to "de-escalate the rhetoric", saying: "I would not blow this topic out of proportion as the current Ukrainian authorities and their Western protectors are trying to do."
He in turn warned NATO that it should not deploy additional permanent forces in the alliance´s Eastern European member states according to its agreements with Russia.
"As for plans to increase the military presence of NATO forces on the territory of Eastern European member countries... there should not be additional permanent military presence on the territories of Eastern European countries," Lavrov said.
NATO said Wednesday it had stepped back from a floated idea to reinforce the alliance´s military presence in countries bordering Russia, preferring for now to suspend cooperation with Moscow and give more time to talks.
