Ukraine and the West would have succeeded in preventing a ” climbing Russian, welcomed, Tuesday, February 15, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, shortly after the announcement of the start of a Russian military withdrawal from the outskirts of Ukrainian territory. The Kremlin confirmed the start of this withdrawal of Russian forces, citing a ” normal process “.
After weeks of tension and while American media had mentioned the date of Wednesday as a potential day of a Russian invasion, Moscow announced, on Tuesday February 15, the start of a withdrawal of certain Russian troops deployed near the Ukrainian border. to their garrisons. ” Units of the Southern and Western Military Districts (border areas of Ukraine, editor’s note) who have completed their tasks, have already started loading on the means of rail and road transport and will begin to return to their garrisons “, announced the spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov. The spokesman gave no indication of the number of forces involved.
Back to the “ usual basics »
The Russian Defense Ministry has shared videos of tanks leaving their positions in the southern and western areas of the country bordering Ukraine, reports our correspondent in Moscow, Anissa el-Jabri.
And even if the exercises are still continuing, especially in Belarus, and that until next Sunday, the Kremlin confirmed in the wake of this departure via its spokesman Dmitri Peskov. “ Russia has conducted and will continue to conduct exercises throughout the territory of the Russian Federation. It is a permanent process, as in all the countries of the world, he indicated. It is our right to conduct exercises at home, in the territory where we deem it appropriate, and it is not a subject of discussion with anyone. We have always said that after the end of the exercises, the troops would return to their permanent bases. That’s what’s happening this time around. There is nothing new. It’s a normal process. »
” We managed to prevent any further escalation »
” Together with our partners, we managed to prevent any further escalation by Russia “, declared, this Tuesday, February 15 in the morning, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kouleba. For him, however, it is still too early to see a real drop in tensions in this crisis which has shaken Europe since the end of 2021. “ The situation remains tense but under control “, added Mr. Kouleba, the day after the visit to Kiev of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who is expected this Tuesday in Moscow.
If Russia has always defended itself from any warlike inclination, it demanded guarantees for its security, including the promise that Kiev will never join NATO. This request was 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.
The ” propaganda » American mocked
In Moscow, we do not hesitate to make fun of the Americans, and in particular the announcement presented as almost certain of an invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday. Written message from the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy: February 15, 2022 will go down in history as the day Western propaganda of war failed. »
Still, Russia is obviously far from having given up on some of its objectives. A few moments ago, the Duma has just voted on a draft appeal to Vladimir Putin for the official recognition of the self-declared republics of Donbass. Cautious, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, moreover affirmed ” that no sign of de-escalation was not really observed in the field, in spite of ” signals” sent by Moscow of its desire to dialogue “.
(with AFP)
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