NATO is using Ukraine crisis to rush Russian borders - Defense Ministry

In their push, Anatoly Antonov says Allied forces are ignoring diplomacy.

"We've noticed that NATO member states are using the situation in southeastern Ukraine as a pretext to discard all diplomatic conventions, tricks and slogans and push forward, closer to the Russian border."

According to the minister, what NATO is doing is completely out of proportion with what NATO commanders call the build-up of Russian forces on its side of the border in Ukraine. "NATO's activities are many times greater than Russia's."

However, he added they aren't a threat to Russia's security.

All of this is being done to restrain Russia and punish it for refusing to play along with rules set by the West, according to the official.

"Instead of uniting forces to fight evil, the worst of which is terrorism, Western nations are drawing new divisive lines, trying to realize containment schemes against unwelcome states. Today, Russia has been chosen as the target."

He added that NATO currently can’t be considered the pillar of world freedom and security it is cracked up to be.

All this doesn’t bode well for relations between the US and Russia, Antonov said.

"Throughout my military and diplomatic career, I haven't seen another period when Russian-American relations have been so difficult."

Read more 6 NATO ships to stage war games in Black Sea

The activities he was referring to include massive wargames in Eastern Europe and naval exercises in the Black Sea. On Wednesday, warships from the US, Turkey, Italy, Canada and Romania started drills there.

Another example is the NATO military parade on February 24, held just 300 meters from the Russian border, in the Estonian town of Narva. About 140 pieces of armor and 10 times as many troops, including US soldiers, took part in that event.

Moscow saw it as a stab in its direction, but Estonia defended its right to host a parade, saying it can move military whichever way it likes on its territory - the same argument used by Russia when accused of military build-up along its borders.

The US is sending 600 paratroopers to Ukraine by the end of this week. US 173rd Airborne Brigade Commander Colonel Michael Foster announced this at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC on Monday.

The forces will stay there for six months, with the stated goal of training the Ukrainian National Guard. However, the operation could grow bigger.

"Initially, the plan is to go for six months,” said Colonel Foster. “There have been discussions on how to increase both the duration of that event and the scope, the other things the US can assist with from a military perspective."

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday that American troops are already training Ukrainian forces in Kharkov region.

When asked if the training programme will be used to send lethal aid to Ukraine should the US decide to do so, Colonel Foster said a "secondary method" will be used for that.

The push to give lethal aid to Kiev is sparking concern in Moscow, especially "in light of the rather successful implementation of ceasefire agreements reached on February 12," the Foreign Ministry says.