LATEST: NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has dismissed what he said were Russia's "hollow denials" of involvement in Ukraine's separatist conflict.
He said that "it is now clear that Russian troops and equipment have illegally crossed the border." He said Russia is engaged in "direct military operations in Ukraine." He spoke in Brussels after an emergency NATO meeting to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
Rasmussen said Russia's actions were not isolated but "part of a dangerous pattern over many months to destabilize Ukraine."
He said Russia had supplied rebels with tanks, armor, artillery, and rocket launchers and had fired on Ukrainian troops from both Russian territory and Ukrainian soil.
Rasmussen said he fully respects Ukraine's decisions regarding its security policy and alliance affiliations. He spoke shortly after Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the government in Kyiv would pursue membership in NATO.
Here is today's map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine by the National Security and Defense Council. Looking much more grim for Kyiv:
LATEST: Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says the government will ask parliament to consider putting Ukraine back on a path toward becoming a NATO member.
LATEST: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the West has provided no proof that Russian forces have invaded Ukraine.
Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the leader of pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, has agreed to let encircled Ukrainian government troops leave the battlefield after Russian President Vladimir Putin called on militia forces to open "a humanitarian corridor." Zakharchenko said his forces would comply on the condition that the Ukrainian government forces hand over their weapons. (Reuters)
