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Troop movements inside Russia do not harm other nations’ security, says delegation advisor

Moscow is not conducting any considerable military activity that must be reported under the Vienna Document, the advisor stated

VIENNA, April 14. /TASS/. Russia is not conducting any considerable military activity that must be reported under the Vienna Document. The movements of troops inside Russian territory do not affect the security of other countries, an adviser to the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, Yulia Zhdanova, said at an urgent joint meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation and the OSCE Permanent Council.

"Russia believes that application of the procedures under item 16 of Chapter III of the Vienna Document of 2011 (VD-2011) by Ukraine is groundless. We are not conducting any significant military activity that has to be reported under VD-2011. It is routine, planned and carried out as part of the concluding period of winter training of units, including the Southern Military Region, and does not require notification. All measures to move Russian military units are part of combat training inside our national territory. They are adequate to the situation and do not affect the security of other states," Zhdanova said in a statement obtained by TASS.

The OSCE member-countries are holding a meeting on Wednesday at Ukraine’s request over rumored growing military presence on the border between Russia and Ukraine.

Zhdanova said the tasks and purposes of Russia’s military exercises had been made public in advance.

"They receive detailed coverage on the official Internet portal of the Russian Defense Ministry. As far as the details of our answers to Ukraine’s questions via the OSCE liaison network are concerned, they correspond to the reasons and authenticity of the requests well enough," Zhdanova explained.

Western countries in recent days repeatedly voiced concern over the Ukrainian military’s speculations about a Russian buildup along the border with Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier the movement of Russian troops inside Russian territory should not worry other countries because it did not threaten them in any way whatsoever. Also, he stressed that the events in Donbass were an intra-Ukrainian conflict in which Russian forces had never been involved.

The situation in Donbass exacerbated at the end of February, with exchanges of gunfire, including those involving mortars and grenade launchers, registered every day. The warring parties blamed each other for the surge in tensions.