Moscow Says Surprised at German Request to Report on Troop Movements

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen's insistence on Russia reporting about the movements and the number of its troops surprised the Russian Defense Ministry, because Moscow is informing its European partners about all snap drills and large-scale exercises for two years, according to the ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

MOSCOW(Sputnik) — The Russian Defense Ministry is surprised at German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen's insistence on Russia reporting about the movements and the number of its troops, the ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Sunday.

German media reported earlier on Sunday that von der Leyen said NATO and Russia should publicly report on the movements and the number of its troops within the framework of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). She added that the initiative has long been promoted by NATO, stressing that the alliance is a defensive organization.

"The German defense minister's statements have surprised us. She is possibly unaware that we have, at our initiative, been informing our European partners about all snap drills and large-scale exercises for two years, which is something we are not obliged to do under the Vienna Convention," Konashenkov said.

The spokesman commented on the German defense minister's remark on the defensive nature of NATO by recalling the alliance's "dramatic" campaigns in Yugoslavia and Libya.

"Will Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen be able to explain to the world how selflessly the alliance defended itself without sparing ammunition," he said.