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New talks on eve of Tillerson visit
 by Staff Writers
 Brussels (AFP) March 28, 2017


US general seeks weapons support for Ukraine
Washington (AFP) March 28, 2017 - The commander of US forces in Europe said Tuesday that United States should consider arming Ukraine with defensive weapons as it fights Russian-backed rebels in the country's east.

Ukraine has long sought supplies of US weapons, but was rebuffed by former president Barack Obama's administration, which sent US military personnel to train Ukrainian forces instead.

"I personally believe we need to consider lethal defensive weapons for Ukraine," Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, who is NATO's supreme allied commander and head of the US European Command, said.

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Scaparrotti described the rebels as a "lethal tough enemy."

"The Russians provide some of their newest equipment in order to test it," he told the lawmakers.

The Russians notably have tested the use of drones to provide lethal targeting data to artillery units, he said.

Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of masterminding the rebellion, a charge that Moscow denies. Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in April 2014.

Scaparrotti's remarks came ahead of a meeting in Brussels Thursday between NATO ambassadors and the Russian envoy in a new bid to ease tensions, including over the crisis in Ukraine.

NATO has suspended all practical cooperation with Russia over its role in Ukraine.

On Friday, the foreign ministers of the 28-nation NATO alliance are scheduled to meet in Brussels, marking the first time US President Donald Trump's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, will attend the talks.

NATO ambassadors will meet the Russian envoy on Thursday in a new bid to ease tensions on the eve of the alliance's first talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The ambassadors will discuss the crisis in Ukraine as well as Afghanistan's security, and terrorism in the region, a NATO official said.

"Following consultations with the members of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), I have invited them to a meeting at ambassadorial level," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement.

"The meeting will take place on 30 March at NATO headquarters in Brussels," he added.

The NRC had met regularly until the Ukraine crisis plunged relations with Moscow into the deep freeze in 2014, though this will be the fourth meeting since the forum resumed nearly a year ago.

NATO was alarmed when Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and has accused Russia since of fuelling a rebellion in eastern Ukraine against the pro-Western government in Kiev.

US-led NATO has suspended all practical cooperation with Russia over its role in Ukraine but Stoltenberg has said political channels of communication have always remained open.

Russia's ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko and alliance counterparts will also discuss "military activities, reciprocal transparency and risk reduction in order to improve stability and security in the Euro-Atlantic area," the NATO official said on condition of anonymity.

The meeting comes on the eve of Tillerson's visit to Brussels for consultations with the other foreign ministers of the 28-nation alliance.

NATO rescheduled the meeting for Friday after Tillerson was unable to make the original date next week and sowed doubts about US President Donald Trump's commitment to an alliance he had dismissed as "obsolete."

Tillerson's decision to skip the initial NATO meeting and visit Moscow the same month instead also fuelled concerns among the alliance about Trump's admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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US general seeks weapons support for Ukraine
 Washington (AFP) March 28, 2017
 The commander of US forces in Europe said Tuesday that United States should consider arming Ukraine with defensive weapons as it fights Russian-backed rebels in the country's east. Ukraine has long sought supplies of US weapons, but was rebuffed by former president Barack Obama's administration, which sent US military personnel to train Ukrainian forces instead. "I personally believe we ... read more
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