The US general who is NATO's senior commander in Europe has said that there is a large number of Russians providing "backbone guidance and training" to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, and promised that the United States will support Ukraine in the face of an "immediate threat from Russia" to its sovereignty.
Speaking during a visit to Kiev on November 26, US General Philp Breedlove said the United States would help Ukraine pursue a diplomatic solution to the conflict with pro-Russian separatists that would respect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Breedlove expressed deep concern over "the militarization of Crimea," the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in March.
"We are concerned that the capabilities in Crimea that are being installed" would enable Russia to "exert military influence over the Black Sea," he told a news conference.
In addition to a sizable Russian force with a "coercive capability" near the border, Breedlove said that within Ukraine "we still see a large number" of Russians "who are involved primarily in training, advising, assisting, and helping Russian-backed forces in the east."