NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that NATO has no plans to deploy combat troops to non-NATO member Ukraine.

Asked on BBC Television whether he would rule out putting NATO troops in Ukraine if Russia does invade, Stoltenberg said: "We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to Ukraine... we are focusing on providing support."

He added that "there is a difference between being a NATO member and being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine is. There's no doubt about that."

(Cover: A file photo of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Lisbon, Portugal, January 26, 2018. /CFP)