NATO calls on Russia to pull back troops from Ukraine, stop supporting rebels

Reuters

NEWPORT Wales (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the Kremlin on Thursday to pull back Russian troops from Ukraine and to stop supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine. "We call on Russia to end its illegal and self-declared annexation of Crimea," Rasmussen said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the NATO summit near the Welsh city of Newport. "We call on Russia to pull back its troops from Ukraine and to stop the flow of arms, fighters and funds to the separatists," Rasmussen said. "We call on Russia to step back from confrontation and take the path of peace." (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Adrian Croft)