That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Thursday, June 1, 2017. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage. Thanks for reading and take care.
Russian Envoy Warns Moscow Will Respond To NATO’s Eastern Boost
Russia’s ambassador to NATO says Moscow will respond to the alliance's military deployment in Eastern members.
Aleksandr Grushko was speaking in Brussels on June 1, as NATO countries are deploying some 4,600 troops to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
NATO describes the deployment as a deterrent move in the face of a more-assertive Russia after its illegal 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow accuses the alliance of threatening its security.
"NATO is building a new military security situation that we cannot ignore, that we should address using our own military instruments," Grushko told journalists.
Grushko insisted that "NATO's movements will not be left without a response in terms of military planning," without indicating what kind of measures Russia might take.