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Kremlin says US military instructors’ presence in Ukraine destabilizes situation

The presence of such specialists from third countries does not at all contribute to resolving the conflict, Kremlin spokesman said, commenting on the US military instructors arrival in Kiev
US paratroopers (archive) AP Photo/Gerry Broome
US paratroopers (archive)
© AP Photo/Gerry Broome

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The arrival of US military instructors in Ukraine is destabilizing situation in the inter-Ukrainian settlement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

Peskov noted that this comes as the inter-Ukrainian conflict and the situation in the country’s south-east are still unresolved and there are problems with the implementation of the February 12 Minsk agreements.

"Of course, the presence of such specialists from third countries does not at all contribute to resolving the conflict and creating a favorable atmosphere and on the contrary, destabilizes the situation," he said, commenting on the reports that the US military instructors arrived in Kiev on Friday.

Moscow has repeatedly paid attention to this, Peskov stressed.

US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt said earlier on Friday that the 173rd Airborne troops have arrived in Ukraine to train the country’s military. He gave no further details on the number of the troops.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov earlier wrote on Facebook that 290 US paratroopers are to land on April 20 in western Ukraine’s Lvov region at the Yavorov training range.

The 173rd brigade and armed units of Ukraine’s national guard will hold joint training exercises under the agreement with the US State Department, Avakov said.

The agreement on the training mission was reached by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US Vice President Joe Biden, Avakov said. Some 900 members of Ukraine’s national guard will participate in the exercises.

There will be three rounds of training of 300 Ukraine’s national guard troops, and each of the period will last for 8 weeks, he said. Then the joint exercises will take place that will involve the national guard units Azov, the Kulchitsky battalion, Yaguar, Omega and other units from Kiev, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnitsa.