BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says security problems are undermining peace efforts in eastern Ukraine, as a routinely violated cease-fire barely holds in the separatist Donbass region.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, left, speaks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a round table meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission at foreign ministers level at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Dec. 7(Photo: Associated Press)
Opening talks between NATO and Ukraine foreign ministers Wednesday, Stoltenberg said the security situation «remains serious» and «hinders progress toward a political settlement.» Stoltenberg says the cease-fire in Ukraine is being violated daily. He said heavy weapons have not been withdrawn from the conflict zone as required by the Minsk peace agreement.
Lack of Progress
A meeting last week of foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany intended to shore up the shaky peace process ended without result. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the lack of progress in settling a conflict that has killed more than 9,600 people since April 2014.
With an aircraft carrier deployed off Syria’s shores and hundreds of new jets, missiles and tanks entering service each year, President Vladimir Putin can project Russian military power on a scale unseen since Soviet times.
Russian soldiers march(See bottom picture) during the Victory Day military parade marking 71 years after the victory in WWII in Red Square in Moscow, Russia. President Vladimir Putin is projecting Russian military power overseas on a scale unseen since Soviet times. A massive reform effort begun in the wake of Russia’s troubled 2008 invasion of Georgia has transformed what long were crumbling, demoralized forces into an agile military capable of swift action in Ukraine and Syria. Russia’s young men once typically shunned their obligatory military service, but today’s recruits talk eagerly of longer-term enlistments.
Trained and paid army
A massive reform effort launched in the wake of Russia’s 2008 war with Georgia has transformed a crumbling, demoralized military into agile forces capable of swift action in Ukraine and Syria. Long gone are the days when Russia was forced through financial hardship to scrap dozens of warships and ground most of its air force. Whereas many young men long dodged their obligatory military service, recruits today speak of extending assignments in a better equipped, trained and paid army.
