Russian Embassy in Response to US Call to Withdraw Troops: Russia to Continue Drills

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russia has the right to decide for itself where to deploy troops inside the country, and it will continue military exercises, the Russian Embassy said in connection with US Deputy Secretary Wendy R. Sherman's calls to withdraw troops from the border with Ukraine.

"We don't understand the logic of @DeputySecState who states that Russia should 'return its troops to barracks or tell the US what exercises are ongoing and what their purpose is' while the United States doesn't intend to discuss its troop levels in Europe with us," the embassy said.

"It is our choice where and when to conduct military exercises on our national territory. We will continue to conduct them because it meets Russian security interests," it said.

The Russian Embassy further rejected remarks that Moscow may lie about the course of the discussions in Geneva, underscoring that such an approach shows degradation of the culture of talks.

"We noted the statement of the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki during a briefing on January 10 about the preparation of the #USA for a possible spread of disinformation by #Russia regarding the course of Russia-U.S. negotiations in #Geneva," reads a post on Facebook. "We strongly reject such insinuations. Russian official statements fully correspond to reality. From the very beginning, our country has demonstrated maximum transparency with regard to this dialogue."

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki had told journalists on Monday the US is getting ready for the possibility of Russia spreading disinformation about commitments that have not been made following strategic stability talks.