BRUSSELS, August 06. /ITAR-TASS/. NATO is concerned that Russia may send troops to east Ukraine under the pretext of a peacekeeping or humanitarian mission, NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu said in a statement made public in the Belgian capital on Wednesday.

Russia “has amassed around 20,000 combat-ready troops on Ukraine's Eastern border,” Lungescu said, adding that this “undermines efforts aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis.”

“We're not going to guess what's on Russia's mind, but we can see what Russia is doing on the ground - and that is of great concern,” the NATO spokesperson said. The North Atlantic Alliance is concerned that Moscow “could use the pretext of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission as an excuse to send troops into Eastern Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Russian Permanent Representative at the UN Vitaly Churkin said at an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday that Moscow offered to send Russian humanitarian convoys under the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and other Ukrainian cities with a high number of forced migrants. Russia is prepared for “to make convoys as transparent as possible.” “Let the ICRC monitor the loading of convoys, escort them along the whole route and supervise distribution of aid among those in need,” the diplomat said.