Ukraine-Russia crisis, diplomatic efforts continue. While Russia announces a new troop withdrawal, Prime Minister Mario Draghi has heard from US President John Biden. A meeting in the Kremlin between Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is also scheduled for today.
10.44 – “We consider the probability of a large-scale escalation to be low”. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said this in Parliament, according to local media reports after the latest alarms.
10.42 am – Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend tomorrow a “pre-planned” cruise and ballistic missile exercises, announced the defense ministry in Moscow. These are exercises of the deterrent forces, it is specified. The Aerospace Forces and Strategic Missile Forces will take part, as well as ground units from the Southern Military District and the Navy, the Black Sea and Northern Fleets.
10.20 am – Russia has announced the return of tanks, armored vehicles and military personnel to “permanent bases” after “exercises”. The Russian Defense Ministry with a statement published on its website speaks of “personnel and military equipment of the tankers of the western military district transferred to the permanent base in the Nizhny Novgorod region after the conclusion of the planned exercises”. The ministry adds that it is a transfer “by rail over a distance of about a thousand kilometers” without adding any indication of the locations from which the military would be withdrawn.
9.46 – Vladimir Putin is meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the Kremlin today, a meeting that could have important implications for the crisis with Ukraine. The two leaders will in fact discuss what will happen to the 30 thousand Russian troops that are deployed in Belarus after the conclusion of the joint military exercises, set for tomorrow. “We will make the appropriate decisions tomorrow,” Lukashenko answered a question on the matter yesterday during a visit to the troops at the Osipovichi training center.
The Russians said the troops will leave Belarus once the exercises are over. But the Belarusian president said yesterday that “it makes sense to keep Russian troops here for as long as necessary. I stress it once again: it is our territory and the decision is up to us”. And then he criticized the deployment of American troops in Poland.
8.25 am – “I am going to Munich today to discuss how we can counter the logic of dialogue to the logic of the threat of violence and escalation. It is a pity that Russia does not take advantage of this opportunity”. This is what the Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock said, complaining that Russia has decided not to send its representatives to the Munich Security Conference which opens today.
“With an unprecedented deployment of forces on the Ukrainian border and Cold War demands, Russia is challenging the basic principles of European order and peace,” added Baebrock. The traditional security conference held annually in the southern German city will obviously focus on the crisis in Ukraine.
8.12 – Ukrainian Defense Ministry claims to have recorded 60 truce violations by pro-Russian Donbass separatists in the past 24 hours, with a wounded soldier. This is what we read on the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
8 AM – Anthony Blinken accepted a new meeting with Sergei Lavrov. This was announced by the US State Department, specifying that it was the secretary of state who proposed the meeting and then the Russian minister gave his availability for the end of next week. Blinken spokesman Ned Price said the meeting would take place in Europe “as long as there is no further Russian invasion”. “If they invade in the next few days – he added – then it will be clear that they have never been serious about diplomacy”. It was Blinken himself, in his speech yesterday at the UN with which he illustrated in detail the plan with which Russia is trying to create a pretext to attack Ukraine, who made it known that he had asked Lavrov for a meeting.
7.50 am – Joe Biden will have a virtual meeting “with transatlantic leaders” today on the crisis in Ukraine. This was announced by the White House specifying that the phone call will take place in the early afternoon, Washington time. During the meeting, the leaders will discuss “the Russian military strengthening on the border with Ukraine and our continuing efforts to pursue deterrence and diplomacy”, they conclude from the White House.
7.13 am – Joe Biden and Mario Draghi “re-examined diplomatic efforts and ongoing deterrence in response to the continued military strengthening of Russia on the border with Ukraine “. Thus the White House reports on the phone call between the American president and the prime minister. The two leaders, the note concludes,” reaffirmed the their commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and their readiness to impose severe economic costs on Russia should it further invade Ukraine. “
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