Ukraine’s army announced on Saturday that it would hold joint military exercises with NATO troops later this year amid growing violence with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.
The military said in a statement on Facebook that the exercises would be held within a few months with more than 1,000 military personnel from at least five NATO member countries.
“In particular, defensive actions will be worked out, followed by an offensive to restore the state border and territorial integrity of a state subjected to aggression by one of its hostile neighbors,” the statement said, referring to Russia.
An exact date for the exercises has not been provided.
Moscow has tentatively reprimanded any potential deployment of NATO personnel to Ukraine and warned that it would increase pressure on the border between the two countries.
But pressure has increased along the border, with Russia building up its military presence on its side of the barrier. The fighting also escalated with separatists backed by Moscow in eastern Ukraine, prompting the possible end of a ceasefire in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian parliament issued a statement this week declaring an “escalation” at the front, citing a “significant increase in shootings and armed provocations by the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”
Ukraine, which represents NATO’s frontline in Eastern Europe against Russian enlargement, has pressured Western governments to ‘continue and increase international political and economic pressure on Russia’.