Ukraine on Thursday accused Russia of having invaded the country, dashing hopes of progress toward a diplomatic resolution and challenging the West to respond.
A senior official of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said that more than 1,000 Russian troops were fighting alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, by far the largest such force ever reported by the Western alliance. But he stopped short of calling it an invasion, saying it represented an "incursion" apparently aimed at preventing Kiev's forces from defeating the pro-Russia rebels, rather than a broader assault.
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CLICK IMAGE to ENLARGE: NATO says satellite images
show Russian units moving in a convoy formation with self
propelled artillery in the area of Krasnodon, Ukraine.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
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The U.S. State Department criticized what it called "a pattern of escalating aggression in Ukraine from the Russians and Russian-backed separatists." But spokeswoman Jen Psaki reiterated that the U.S. and its European allies were seeking diplomatic rather than military measures to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull back.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said European leaders would discuss stepping up economic sanctions when they meet in Brussels this weekend.
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Mr. Putin didn't address the crisis publicly on Thursday and a Kremlin account of his phone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi didn't mention the alleged Russian incursion, saying only that both sides agreed on the need for a "quick political solution" to the crisis.
Mr. Renzi's office, however, said he expressed great concern and called the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine "an intolerable escalation…the consequences of which could be very serious."
Kiev said Russian forces have seized the coastal town of Novoazovsk and several villages near the border with Russia.
"Columns of heavy armor, a large quantity of arms, and troops of Russian regular army units crossed through a part of the border not under control," Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said before an emergency meeting with his security chiefs, according to a statement on his website.
But he called for Ukrainians to remain calm. "The situation is of course extraordinarily difficult…but it is controllable, controllable enough that we must not give in to panic," he said. "We are able to defend ourselves."Read the rest of the story HERE and view related video below:
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