The withdrawal of Russian troops comes amidst rising fear of Ukraine invasion
Russia has announced that some of its troops from its Southern and Western military districts, parts of which are next door to Ukraine, have started returning to their home base.
While some troops are returning after completing mock drills, other major military exercises would continue. Russia had placed 130,000 troops along its borders with Ukraine. The withdrawal comes amidst rising fear of Ukraine invasion.
This comes a day after Ukraine called for an urgent meeting with Russia through the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the next 48 hours.
The Chief Spokesman for the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation – Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, “Units of the Southern and Western military districts, having completed their tasks, have already begun loading onto rail and road transport and today they will begin moving to their military garrisons. Individual units will march on their own as part of military columns.”
In a televised meeting aired on Russian Television, the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin asked the Foreign Minister of Russia – Sergey Lavrov, “Is there a “chance to reach an agreement with our partners on key issues that are of concern to us, or is it just an attempt to drag us into an endless negotiation process that has no logical resolution?”
Seated at the opposite end of a very long table, Lavrov responded, “If we are ready to listen to some counter-proposals, it seems to me that our possibilities are far from being exhausted.”
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine – Dmytro Kuleba has expressed skepticism about the withdrawal of some of the troops.
Taking it to twitter, Dmytro tweeted,
On Russian statements regarding withdrawal of some forces from the Ukrainian border. We in Ukraine have a rule: we don’t believe what we hear, we believe what we see. If a real withdrawal follows these statements, we will believe in the beginning of a real de-escalation.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 15, 2022
Speaking to media, the Secretary General of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – Jens Stoltenberg said, “There are signs from Moscow that diplomacy should continue, this gives grounds for cautious optimism. But so far, we have not seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground.”
The French Government has reacted positively to Russia’s announcement of some troops leaving their stations, but said it is assessing the information closely.
However, as per the satellite images released by the United States (U.S.) based Space Technology company – Maxar Technologies, there is a fresh build-up near Ukraine. As per the analysis of those images there are 60 helicopters that had landed within the past few days at a previously vacant airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea. The helicopters are a mixture of transport and attack aircraft.
Meanwhile, the Chancellor of Germany – Olaf Scholz met Putin in Moscow to resolve the rising tension through diplomacy.
