Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have used a two-month-old ceasefire to consolidate their control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and virtually erase the international border with Russia, NATO’s military commander in Europe said Monday.
Though U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove said it is too early to assess the impact of Sunday’s elections that resulted in the two regions declaring themselves independent “people’s republics,” it’s clear that Russia has been able to train, equip and supply the separatists at will since the Sept. 5 ceasefire was declared.
“The Ukraine-Russia border is wide open in these spaces,” he told reporters at the Pentagon, noting that NATO officials estimate there are a few hundred Russian troops in Ukraine who are focused on training the separatists and keeping them supplied.
NATO officials also noted that Russian troops near Ukraine moved closer in advance of Sunday’s vote, he said — a move alliance officials see as an attempt to influence its results.
The White House made clear on Friday that it considered the election illegitimate, saying in a statement that “the United States will not recognize any results announced from this so-called election, and we call on all members of the international community to do the same.”
Breedlove, who also commands U.S. forces in Europe, has been one of the most vocal U.S. officials in raising concerns about the threat of a new conflict in spite of the Sept. 5 ceasefire deal, which he said Monday had been a ceasefire “in name only.”
Meanwhile, the crisis deepened with indications that Moscow might recognize the results of the vote, which the international community has urged it not to do. Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s permanent representative to the European Union, suggested that the elections were an expression of “democratic values.”
“I believe that if the EU is genuinely interested in the speedy political settlement of the crisis in the east of Ukraine, it should welcome these elections,” Chizhov was quoted as saying by the official RIA-Novosti news agency.
