The Ukrainian army announced on Saturday that it will conduct joint military exercises with NATO troops later this year, amid escalating violence with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.
The armed forces said in a statement on Facebook that the exercises will be conducted with more than 1,000 military personnel from at least five NATO member states in a few months.
“In particular, defensive actions will be worked out, followed by an offensive to restore the state border and territorial integrity of a state that has been the object of aggression by one of the hostile neighboring countries,” it says in an apparent statement. reference to Russia.
No exact date was provided for the exercises.
Moscow had preemptively blamed any possible deployment of NATO personnel to Ukraine, warning it would increase pressure along the border between the two countries.
But pressure has already increased along the border, with Russia increasing its military presence along the barrier. Fighting also escalated with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which meant the potential end of a ceasefire in the Donetsk region.
This week, the Ukrainian parliament issued a statement declaring an “escalation” along the front, citing a “significant increase in the bombing and armed provocations of the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”
Ukraine, which represents NATO’s front line in Eastern Europe against Russian expansion, pressured Western governments to “continue and increase international political and economic pressure on Russia.”