EU leaders to discuss Russia at informal meeting

ANKARA

EU leaders will hold an informal meeting Feb. 17 to discuss developments concerning Russia-Ukraine tensions, a spokesman for the EU Council president said Wednesday.

The meeting will be held ahead of the EU-African Union (AU) Summit, said Barend Leyts on Twitter.

“Ahead of tomorrow’s #EUAUSummit there will be a one hour informal meeting of the members of the European Council at 12:30 on a state of play of latest developments related to Russia/Ukraine,” he wrote.

As tensions between Moscow and Kyiv have soared in recent months, Western countries, led by the US, have warned of an imminent Russian invasion.

Kyiv, Washington and its allies raised alarms by accusing Russia of amassing more than 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly denied it is preparing to attack its ex-Soviet neighbor, saying its troops were there for exercises.

On Tuesday, Russia announced that some of its troops were returning to bases after completing training drills.

Moscow has also denounced Western countries for undermining its security through NATO’s expansion toward its borders.

Russia issued a list of security demands to the West, including a rollback of troop deployments from some ex-Soviet states and guarantees that some of those states would not join NATO.

In a written response to the demands, Washington said it is committed to upholding NATO’s “open-door policy,” while NATO said its stance was “parallel with the United States.”