MOSCOW, APR 13 – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia on Tuesday to withdraw troops that the alliance says Moscow is massing on Ukraine‘s borders.

“In recent weeks Russia has moved thousands of combat-ready troops to Ukraine‘s borders, the largest massing of Russian troops since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014,” Stoltenberg said.

“Russia must end this military build-up in and around Ukraine, stop its provocations and deescalate immediately,” he said at a news conference with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Kuleba said Kyiv wanted a diplomatic solution.