NATO asks Russia for withdrawal

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, asked Russia on Tuesday to "relieve the pressure" in the Ukrainian crisis, by withdrawing its merged troops from the border with Ukraine.

"I am very concerned about the latest developments in Ukraine, the continued violence perpetrated by small separatist groups and the Russian military pressure on the Ukrainian border," Rasmussen said at the opening meeting of the EU Defense Ministers.

"I call on Russia to decrease pressure in the crisis, to withdraw troops from the border to avoid destabilizing Ukraine and to show that it doesn't support the violent actions of the pro-Russian separatists," added the General Secretary of NATO.

"Russia must cease to be a part of the problem and to participate in solving" the crisis, Rasmussen stressed.

Amid the crisis in Ukraine, NATO decided temporary assignments of AWACS radar planes in the airspace of these countries.

In turn, the United States sent six F-15 in the Baltic countries, 12 F-16 devices and three transport aircrafts in Poland.

Other European countries, including France and Britain said they were willing to send planes in those countries where NATO will take a decision in this regard, in the coming weeks.