BERLIN, November 2. /TASS/. The German government closely follows media reports on the situation at the Russian-Ukrainian border, Germany’s Foreign Ministry told TASS on Tuesday.
"The German government as a Normandy format member in principle keeps a close watch on all the reports about the situation at the Russian-Ukrainian border," the ministry said in response to a request to comment on the media reports of Russia’s alleged military buildup near the border with Ukraine after the completion of the Zapad 2021 Russia-Belarus strategic drills.
The Washington Post reported on October 30 that US and European officials were concerned over alleged Russian troop deployments to the Ukrainian border. As the paper claimed, Western countries began noticing the Russian troop movements particularly in recent weeks, after Russia concluded a massive military exercise with Belarus dubbed Zapad 2021 on its western flank in mid-September.
Western countries earlier repeatedly raised concern over the Ukrainian military’s claims about a buildup of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine. For his part, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that troop movements inside Russia should not worry any states as this posed no threat to anyone.