Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told the press on Tuesday that joint efforts made by Ukraine and its western allies may have prevented an escalation of the current crisis with Russia.
“We and our allies have managed to prevent Russia from any further escalation. It is already the middle of February, and you see that diplomacy is continuing to work,” Kuleba was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
Kuleba’s comments come shortly after news came from Moscow that it is withdrawing some of its military units. A Russian defence ministry spokesperson said that Russian army units of the southern and western units have returned back to their bases.
“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,” Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies.
The developments come amid German chancellor Scholz’s visit to Moscow where he is scheduled to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. Hours ahead of both announcements, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock sent a strict message to Russia asking them to withdraw troops and deescalate the crisis. Ukraine earlier said that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline – which has earned the ire of the US and other allies since doubts rose that Germany was silent throughout the crisis because of the gas supply it needs from Russia during winter – was being wielded by Russia as a geopolitical weapon.
Satellite images released by Maxar showed Russian tanks, artillery, military helicopters, Sukhoi-25 jets and large battalions inside camps in Crimean peninsula as well as in Belarus indicating that Putin ordered its armies to surround Ukraine from all sides in order to mount a sudden invasion. According to US intelligence, fears were rife that Vladimir Putin may mount an invasion with little to no warning.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova took to Facebook to lash out at the US and its allies accusing them of propagating false fears of a war. “February 15, 2022, will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed. Humiliated and destroyed without a single shot being fired,” Zakharova posted.
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