STORY HIGHLIGHTS <\/p>\n
(CNN) -- Russia still has about 1,000 troops inside eastern Ukraine, a NATO military officer said Thursday, a week after Ukraine's government and pro-Russian rebels agreed to a ceasefire aimed at ending months of conflict. <\/p>\n
NATO also sees 20,000 more Russian troops aligned along the border, the NATO officer told CNN. He was not named according to standard practice in the organization. <\/p>\n
NATO believes that these numbers amount to a large and effective military force, the officer said. In addition to the troop numbers, NATO continues to see sophisticated Russian military equipment in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
NATO remains concerned and urges Russia to engage with the international community and Ukraine to find a political solution to the crisis, the officer said. <\/p>\n
Moscow has consistently denied allegations by Kiev and the West that Russia has troops in Ukraine, and that it has armed and supported the rebels. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said some 70% of the Russian troops believed to have been in Ukraine had withdrawn back across the border, according to the national news agency Ukrinform. <\/p>\n
Information released by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council on Thursday indicated that the rebel forces control a strip of eastern Ukraine running from the city of Luhansk down to the Sea of Azov. <\/p>\n
'Very fragile' ceasefire <\/p>\n
The truce was signed Friday after talks in Minsk, Belarus, between representatives of Ukraine, the rebels and Russia. <\/p>\n
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NATO: 1,000 Russian troops in Ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- Russia still has about 1,000 troops inside eastern Ukraine, a NATO military officer said Thursday, a week after Ukraine's government and pro-Russian rebels agreed to a ceasefire aimed at ending months of conflict. NATO also sees 20,000 more Russian troops aligned along the border, the NATO officer told CNN. Continue reading