Tanks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are seen during drills at an unknown location near the border of Russian-annexed Crimea, Ukraine, in this handout picture released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine press service April 14, 2021. Press Service General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS
Reuters: Russia, Ukraine hold military drills, NATO criticises Russian troop build-up
MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine held simultaneous military drills on Wednesday as NATO foreign and defence ministers began emergency discussions on a massing of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border.
Washington and NATO have been alarmed by the large build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine and in Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and two U.S. warships are due to arrive in the Black Sea this week.
Russia -- which said the U.S. naval move was an unfriendly provocation and warned Washington to stay far away from Crimea and its Black Sea coast -- says the build-up is a three-week snap military drill to test combat readiness in response to what it calls threatening behaviour from NATO.
It has said the exercise is due to wrap up within two weeks.
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