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The official Russian news agency, Interfax, reported the withdrawal of 10,000 soldiers who remained close to Ukraine and whose presence unleashed an escalation of tensions between Moscow and the West over an eventual invasion of Ukrainian territory. Kiev remembered the antecedent of 2014, when the Kremlin annexed the Crimean peninsula to its territory.
Interfax, which cited military sources, assured that the drills, which lasted for a month, were carried out in various regions near Ukraine, including Crimea, among other regions in southern Russia.
The massive troop deployment would have fueled fears in Kiev and other western capitals that Russia was planning an attack or invasion, plans that Russia always denied but used as a reminder of the promise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO. , of not expanding the alliance towards the Russian borders.
Moscow argued “the threat” posed to its territory by Ukraine’s growing ties with the Western alliance, and said it can deploy its troops on its territory as it sees fit.
“A stage of combat coordination of divisions, combat teams, squadrons in motorized units has been completed. More than 10,000 military personnel will march to their permanent deployment from the territory of the combined arms exercise area,” Interfax reported.
A document from the US intelligence services suggests that the number of Russian troops that have approached Ukraine could reach 175,000.
On December 17, Russia presented a list of ambitious demands towards the United States and NATO, among which stands out the refusal of Ukraine to join NATO and the cessation of the activity of the military alliance in Eastern Europe.
“When our relations, because of Washington, are approaching a critical point, it is most urgently necessary to take concrete steps to reduce the degree of confrontation,” said Sergei Riabkov, Russian deputy foreign minister.
Russia threatened a “military response”, not to accept their demands and compared it to the response to the missile crisis in Cuba in 1962. The bloc of countries of the European Union warned of “enormous” sanctions if Russia decides to invade. Ukraine.
The 30 countries that make up NATO “have made it clear that if Russia takes concrete steps to reduce tensions, we are prepared to work on strengthening confidence measures,” Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, said a week ago.
“Any dialogue with Russia would have to also address NATO concerns about Russian actions, be based on the fundamental principles and documents of European security, and be held in consultation with NATO’s European partners such as Ukraine,” said Stoltenberg, who received the document with the demands of Russia.
Face-to-face meeting to relieve tensions
A German government source assured Reuters on Saturday, December 25, that Russian and German government officials agreed to a face-to-face meeting in early January to ease political tensions over Ukraine.
Jens Ploetner, the foreign policy advisor to the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Russian negotiator for Ukraine, Dmitry Kozak, had agreed to meet after a telephone conversation on Thursday, the source said. The German government has not commented on this.
Scholz, who is new to office, has insisted on the need for a dialogue with Russia on the military presence on the Ukrainian border. Critics accuse Germany of owning Russia for its dependence on Russian gas and attack the construction of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between the countries.
“The aim of the German side remains to achieve a rapid revival of the Normandy format,” said the German government source.
For his part, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, made a video call this Friday with 20 US senators and congressmen, about the increase in Russian troops and the situation in the east of his country.
“Now, more than ever, it is not the words that matter, but the decisive actions,” the meeting statement said, quoting Zelenski. “My goal is to stop the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine. It is impossible to imagine security in Europe without ending the war in Donbas.”
Tensions in the region have been mounting. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country began in 2014, after Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula, a conflict that has left more than 14,000 dead.
With AP and Reuters
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