Russia warns to send more troops to Crimea amid NATO exercises

Russia has threatened to send more troops to its newly-annexed territory of Crimea, after NATO began exercises in western Ukraine.

Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the escalation of tensions in Ukraine and the presence of foreign military near Russia’s borders made the deployment of troops a top priority in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in March.

“The situation in Ukraine has escalated sharply and the presence of foreign military has increased in the immediate vicinity of our borders,” he told military commanders, according to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass.

“The deployment of proper and self-sufficient forces to Crimea is one of (our) top priorities.”

Unrest in Ukraine, which Kiev says is being fanned by Russian weapons and soldiers, has plunged ties between Russia and the West to their worst since the end of the Cold War.

Moscow warned that NATO’s Rapid Trident exercises, which will last until September 26 and involve more than 1,000 troops from the United States and its allies, threatens peace efforts in eastern Ukraine, including a fragile ceasefire.