On a visit to Denmark on Friday, Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed an incursion by Russian armoured vehicles into Ukraine, saying it showed Moscow's continued efforts to "destabilise" its western neighbour.

 

"I can confirm that last night we saw a Russian incursion, crossing of the Ukrainian border," he told journalists in Copenhagen after meeting with the Danish defence minister, Nicolai Wammen.

 

Ukraine had said earlier that a column of armoured personnel carriers and military lorries had crossed into Ukrainian territory on Thursday.

 

"It just confirms the fact that we see a continued flow of weapons and fighters from Russia into the eastern Ukraine," Rasmussen said. "It is a clear demonstration of continued Russian involvement in the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine."

 

Rasmussen's meeting with Wammen was held at Amalienborg palace, where the former Danish prime minister had an audience with Crown Prince Frederik. Later in the day, the Nato secretary general had an official meeting with current PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

 

Rasmussen also used the occasion to rule out a return to Danish politics when his term as Nato secretary general expires on September 30th. 

 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to come back when you have been the country’s prime minister. I’m not going back to Danish politics and I’m not going to retire either. But beyond that I haven’t currently made a concrete decision” he told Ritzau.

 

Prior to his stop in Copenhagen, Rasmussen was in Norway. Both stops were in advance of next month's Nato summit in Wales. A video blog that Fogh filmed in Copenhagen on Friday can be seen below: