NATO: Russia still has around 1,000 troops in eastern Ukraine
A Russian tank near a checkpoint controlled by Ukrainian forces on Sept. 10, 2014, near the small eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyanoserbsk, in the Luhansk Oblast.
BRUSSELS, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Russia still has around 1,000 troops in eastern Ukraine, a NATO military officer said on Thursday, casting doubt on reports of a reduction in Russian forces there.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday he had information that 70 percent of Russian troops who had been in Ukraine had been moved back across the border.
"The reported reduction of Russian troops from eastern Ukraine would be a good first step, but we have no information on this. The fact of the matter is there are still approximately 1,000 Russian troops in eastern Ukraine with substantial amounts of military equipment and approximately 20,000 troops on the Russian border with Ukraine," the NATO military officer said.
However, NATO had said last week that it estimated several thousand Russian combat troops were in Ukraine.
Reuters: 11. September 2014
New sanctions against Russia to take effect on Sept. 12 - EU diplomats
A Pro-Russian rebel holds a hand grenade at a checkpoint near the airport in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, September 10, 2014.
BERLIN, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The European Union's new economic sanctions against Russia will come into force on Friday, an EU diplomat told Reuters on Thursday.
"The new sanctions will take effect on Friday," he said.
The 28 governments of EU member states last week agreed on new sanctions against Russia over military involvement in the five-month war in eastern Ukraine - but spent several days discussing their announcement and implementation.
European leaders spoke early on Thursday and agreed to push ahead with a package of sanctions against Russia by the end of the week, due to its aggression towards Ukraine, British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said.
"This morning the prime minister took part in a joint call with several fellow European leaders; president (Herman) Van Rompuy, Chancellor (Angela) Merkel, president (Francois) Hollande and prime minister (Matteo) Renzi," Cameron's spokesman told reporters.
"(They spoke) to discuss the subject of sanctions against Russia in the context of Ukraine and agreement to proceed with the implementation of the sanction package that was agreed earlier in the week."
Sanctions come into force when published in the official journal of the European Commission. "They were in agreement it should be published by the end of the week," the spokesman said.
EU diplomats had said on Wednesday that while Germany was pushing to have the sanctions implemented, several other EU countries had wanted to hold off because a ceasefire in Ukraine was holding.
"The focus of the call was all about how sanctions and the fact that you have had this increasing ratchet of sanctions has been working and that is why it is important these sanctions go ahead and are implemented," Cameron's spokesman said.
"If Russia genuinely reverses course then of course European Union and others will return to the subject but there unfortunately has been very little evidence so far and that is why you have the European Union going ahead."
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