...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead..., the military's chief of general staff said Friday.
"The troops are being moved onto trains and military transport aircraft. This will take around 20 days," General Valery Gerasimov, Russia's chief of general staff, was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency.
He dismissed a journalist's suggestion that the pull-out would be completed by June 1.
Putin on May 19 called an end to military exercises in regions bordering Ukraine, where troops had been deployed since March.
The troops based in Russia's western and southern regions began returning to their bases immediately on May 19, Gerasimov told journalists at a security conference in Moscow.
NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday that limited Russian troop movements near the border with Ukraine "may suggest" preparations for a withdrawal.
Gerasimov insisted that the troops did not present a threat to Ukraine.