U.S. general urges Russia to allow observers at military drills

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia should allow observers, including Western journalists, to attend upcoming military drills that could again put Ukraine on edge just as Russian President Vladimir Putin has sharpened his rhetoric, the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe told Reuters, the news agency said.

The comments by Lieutenant General Ben Hodges came as Ukraine accuses Russia of amassing more than 40,000 troops in Crimea and on the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine's U.N. ambassador, Volodymyr Yelchenko, warned this week that the Russian forces could reflect "some very bad intentions."

Hodges declined to offer estimates of Russian forces or speculate about Putin's intentions ahead of pre-announced, large-scale exercises in Russia's south that are expected to include Crimea.

But he said Russia could help address concerns by following the example of military drills led by the United States and its allies in Europe, to which Russia was allowed to send observers.

"The Russians could really help alleviate and provide some stability if they had invited observers," Hodges said. "That would do a lot, frankly, to lower anxiety."

A U.S. intelligence official called the absence of observers at the Russian exercises "a worrisome development that we hope is just an oversight."

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Army in Europe said Russia sent observers to the "Anakonda" exercises in Poland in June, which included some 31,000 forces from countries including Poland, the United States and other NATO allies and partners.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in December that its main military exercise for 2016 would test its Southern Military District troops, which now includes Crimea and Russia's Black Sea Fleet. It said the drills - called Caucasus-2016 - would take place in September.

Washington rejects Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

The Russian Army's Red Star newspaper in January quoted Colonel-General Alexander Galkin as saying the exercise would check combat readiness and test how air, sea and land forces collaborated together.

"There's nothing wrong with an exercise. It's ... the lack of transparency," Hodges said.