Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) said on Thursday the alliance had no troops inside Ukraine and had no plans to send any into the country.

Stoltenberg said this at a news conference on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“There are no NATO combat troops, no NATO troops at all inside Ukraine.

“ We have made it clear that we don’t have any plans and intention of deploying NATO troops to Ukraine.

“What we have made clear is that we have already increased and we are increasing the presence of NATO troops in the eastern part of the alliance on NATO territory,” he said.

Ukraine is a partner of the Western defence alliance but not a NATO member.