Moscow is starting to return some troops at the Ukrainian border to their bases, the Russian government announced Tuesday — but Ukraine’s president and Western officials have urged caution over taking Russia’s claims at face value. In a statement early Tuesday, Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, said troops that had recently been posted to Russia’s southern and western military districts — which share a border with Ukraine — had completed their military drills and “have already begun loading onto rail and road transport and will begin moving to their military garrisons today.”
It came amid an intense diplomatic effort to avert a war in Europe after Russia amassed more than 100,000 troops on the borders of its pro-Western neighbour. Western leaders accused Moscow of preparing for a possible invasion, a claim Russia repeatedly denied, and threatened wide-ranging sanctions if an attack took place.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels there were “grounds for cautious optimism” in signs coming from Russia, but warned: “We have not seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground.” Though the US and NATO both alleged that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine, as indicated by the deployment of troops at its borders, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied all such allegations. US President Joe Biden also believed that Russia is planning to launch its attack on February 16.
Mocking the Western intelligence that claimed that Russia is planning to launch its attack on Ukraine on February 15, a diplomat from the country said, “February 15, 2022, will go down in history as the day when Western war propaganda failed.” It is not yet clear how many troops will be withdrawn from the Ukraine border by Russia. Further, Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters, “We have a rule: don’t believe what you hear, believe what you see. When we see a withdrawal, we will believe in a de-escalation.”
