(Moscow) Russia on Tuesday ordered the return to their garrisons of units deployed near the Ukrainian border, a first sign of relaxation, their presence raising fears for weeks of an invasion, against a backdrop of Russian-Western tensions.
Posted at 6:17 a.m.
The announcement comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday afternoon and defuse this crisis, fueled by the deployment of more than 100,000 troops in the vicinity of pro-country Ukraine. -Western that the Kremlin wants to bring back into its sphere of influence.
“The units of the southern and western military districts (border areas of Ukraine, editor’s note) which have completed their tasks, have already begun to load on the means of rail and road transport and will begin to return to their garrisons” on Tuesday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
“We have always said that after the completion of the exercises […] the troops will return to their original garrisons. That’s what’s happening there, that’s the usual process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Russia gave no indication of the number of forces involved and the timetable for the withdrawal. On the other hand, Mr. Peskov denounced Western “hysteria” which attributed warlike intentions to Moscow.
Russian deputies for their part asked Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to recognize the independence of the two self-proclaimed republics by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
– American “Hysteria”
Russia is continuing its maneuvers in Belarus, a neighbor of Ukraine, until February 20.
Kiev for its part hailed the union of Ukraine and its Western allies, which prevented a Russian “escalation”.
“Together with our partners, we managed to prevent any further escalation from Russia,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
The start of the Russian military withdrawal comes after a first timid advance on Monday, when Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recommended that Vladimir Putin deepen dialogue with the West, while his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told him part of the controversial military maneuvers was coming to an end.
Washington believed that a Russian offensive against its neighbor was probably imminent, so its embassy in Kiev was abandoned on Monday to be installed in Lviv in the west of the country.
Dozens of countries have called their nationals out of Ukraine, despite calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to panic.
The Kremlin spokesman denounced an “absolutely unprecedented” Western campaign aimed at causing tension. “It’s the kind of hysteria that is based on nothing,” he said.
For the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy Maria Zakharova, “February 15, 2022 goes down in history as the day of the failure of Western war propaganda. They are humiliated and destroyed without a shot being fired”.
– “Unity Day”
Russia, which already annexed Crimea in 2014 and has backed pro-Russian separatists in a conflict in eastern Ukraine for eight years, has consistently denied any belligerent intent.
On the contrary, she says she is threatened by the expansion of NATO resources in Eastern Europe and calls for “security guarantees”, in particular the assurance that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the Alliance moves its military infrastructure away from Russian borders.
These demands were rejected by the West, who offered in exchange talks on other subjects such as arms control, reciprocal visits to sensitive infrastructure or discussions on Russian security fears.
Mr. Lavrov had therefore told Vladimir Putin on this basis that even if his main demands had been rejected, it was necessary to “prolong and broaden” the dialogue with the West.
While American media had mentioned the date of Wednesday as a potential day of a Russian invasion, the Ukrainian president has continued to call for calm the international community and its population.
He declared February 16 as “unity day”, calling on Ukrainians to show their patriotism by wearing the blue and yellow colors of the flag on that day.
At the risk of irritating the Kremlin, Mr. Zelensky also reiterated on Monday that Kiev wanted to join NATO in order to “guarantee its security”.
But this perspective is not on the agenda, according to Westerners who, while defending Ukraine’s right to aspire to join the Alliance, have never set any timetable for membership. .