Nato calls halt to civilian and military co-operation with Russia over crisis

Nato has suspended co-operation with Russia over its annexation of Crimea and its build-up of forces on Ukraine’s border, which the military alliance says still represents a threat to the country. Nato foreign ministers decided yesterday to halt “all practical civilian and military co-operation” with Moscow, as it cranked up further pressure on Kiev by sharply hiking gas prices.

"Russia has undermined the principles on which our partnership is built, and has breached its own international commitments. So we cannot go on doing business as usual," said Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

No reduction
He noted that Nato saw no major reduction in military threat from Russia on Ukraine's eastern frontier. Moscow said this week it had pulled back a battalion from the region – between 300 and 1,200 men.

“This is not what we have seen . . . And this massive military build-up can in no way contribute to a de-escalation of the situation . . . so I continue to urge Russia to pull back its troops . . . and engage in a constructive dialogue with Ukraine,” Mr Rasmussen said.

Western states claim Russia has amassed about 40,000 troops on its border with Ukraine, having annexed Crimea and asserted its right to defend ethnic Russians elsewhere in Ukraine.

“I think everybody realises that the best way forward is a political and diplomatic dialogue,” Mr Rasmussen said, while insisting that Nato was “very determined to provide effective defence and protection of our allies”.

Nato members close to Russia, including the Baltic states and Poland, have sought stronger assurances from the alliance that they would be protected from any Russian aggression.

Air patrols
Additional fighter jets from the US and other Nato countries have joined air patrols over the Baltic states, and Romania revealed yesterday that the US had requested permission to station more aircraft and troops at a military base near its Black Sea coast.

Several Nato states sounded a note of caution, however, with Dutch foreign minister Frank Timmermans saying there was "no need for sudden moves" or for "Nato troops at the border with Russia".

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said what is “important in the coming days is getting Russia and Ukraine around a table together”. Kiev rejects Moscow’s claim that Russians are in danger from “fascist” supporters of its new pro-western government, and says a Kremlin desire to destabilise Ukraine is behind its demand for more power to be given to largely Russian-speaking regions of the country.

After weeks of rising tension between the government and Right Sector, a nationalist revolutionary group prominent in the toppling of Viktor Yanukovich’s regime, parliament voted yesterday to force all “self-defence” groups to disarm. The vote took place hours after a Right Sector member allegedly shot three people in central Kiev.

"The Ukrainian people are demanding order," said acting president Oleksandr Turchynov.

“Those who carry arms – besides the police, the security services and the national guard – are saboteurs who are working against the country.”

Russia said yesterday it would sharply raise the price of gas exports to Ukraine, which requires major western aid to avert bankruptcy.