Russia-Ukraine crisis, first signs of a thaw. Russia has announced the withdrawal of part of the troops deployed near the border with Ukraine, the doubts of NATO and Biden. “Russia does not want a war,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference in Moscow with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “If Russia attacks it will be a war without reason, the human cost for Ukraine will be immense. And the strategic cost for Russia will also be immense”, the US president said in his speech to the White House, underlining that ” the world will not forget that Russia has meaningless death and destruction. ” Read also Russia moves troops across borders. Doubts born
Russia announced yesterday morning the withdrawal of part of the troops deployed near the border with Ukraine, after completing the maneuvers that the units were carrying out in the area. The withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine ” was planned ” and ” does not depend on the hysteria of the West, ” said Moscow Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “The Russian and Belarusian exercises are going on according to plan, regardless of some who have attacks of hysteria,” the Russian foreign minister said again. “So far we have not seen any signs of de-escalation,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking to reporters in Brussels. However, regarding the ongoing diplomatic efforts, “there are signs of Moscow’s willingness to negotiate, which are grounds for cautious optimism,” said Stoltenberg, stressing the Alliance’s readiness for transparency and arms control. At the same time, NATO does not intend to “compromise on basic principles,” said Stoltenberg, recalling that every nation has the right to choose its own defense policy. Specifying that a true de-escalation must include the withdrawal of men and means, otherwise it is a simple movement of troops, Stoltenberg added: “We expect a substantial withdrawal of troops and equipment”, recalling that in the past Russia has withdrawn men from the border but leaving the equipment on the ground. This allows Russian forces to return to the border in no time. “For now we have not seen a de-escalation on the ground, in fact in the last few weeks it has been the opposite”, he remarked. Putin “Russia does not want a war, for this reason we have made a proposal for a negotiation process but unfortunately we have not received an objective and constructive response”. Vladimir Putin said at the press conference in Moscow with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, reiterating that “we aspire to reach an agreement with our partners through diplomatic channels” and the evolution of the situation will depend on this, “it does not depend only on us”. “We are willing to discuss the issues, but always taking into account the aspects that are well founded”, he added, recalling that Russia’s main requests, namely the no to NATO enlargement, the return to the deployment of the bloc in 1997 and the non deployment of offensive systems close to Russia Russia is willing to continue talks on missile issues and more, but any strong link will be considered a threat, Putin said, explaining that he had tried a compromise with Ukraine, but that his suggestions ” were not heeded ”. There was “a proposal for a negotiation process, but we have not received a constructive response”. And he then specifies that Russia will not accept an enlargement of NATO to its borders. “We will never accept NATO expansion to our borders. This is a threat that we clearly perceive. The Alliance’s responses to our requests so far do not satisfy us, but there are arguments that can be advanced,” he said. As for what is happening in Donbass, “for us it is genocide”. Scholz The diplomatic ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, said Chancellor Scholz, “are certainly not over”. “We are ready – he said – together with our partners and allies in the EU and NATO and with Russia to discuss every concrete step to improve security for both sides or even better, for our common security”. “We need to mutually improve the common security of NATO and Russia”. “With Putin we agree that the dialogue with NATO and the OSCE is one more step for the improvement” of the situation. On the other hand, the German Chancellor recalled that “a military aggression of Ukraine would have strategic and political consequences.” My impression is that everyone knows, “he added. Scholz stressed the importance of dialogue, even if the “ideas formulated by Russia” cannot be shared, “it is important that we talk, see what the problems are.” Biden “If Russia attacks it will be a war without reason, the human cost for Ukraine will be immense. And the strategic cost for Russia will also be immense. “So Joe Biden in his speech to the White House, stressing that” the world will not forget that Russia has meaningless death and destruction. “” Invading Ukraine will be like hurting yourself – he said again speaking of Russia – the US and our allies will respond in a decisive and united way “. The United States also has not” yet verified “whether Russia has initiated the withdrawal of troops from the border.” The invasion of ‘ Ukraine remains a distinct possibility. “Biden, who also addressed Russian citizens directly in his speech saying that” we are not your enemies, we are not threatening Russia “, recalled that the United States and allies are ready to adopt sanctions very harsh “that we did not adopt in the times of the Crimea.” And he reiterated that an eventual attack would block the operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which should bring Russian gas to Germany. “We do not sacrifice principles, but there is a There is still a lot of space for diplomacy “, Biden said, recalling that for” weeks we have been working non-stop for diplomacy “. The American president recalled his last weekend conversation with Vladimir Putin to give “diplomacy every chance to succeed”. Biden also highlighted that the United States has put “concrete ideas on the table for security in Europe, measures that can be applied to both NATO and Russia and that can advance common security.” “The Russian defense minister reported that some military units have left their positions near Ukraine, this would be a good thing but we have not yet verified – said Biden – we have not yet verified that Russian units are returning to their bases, instead our analysts indicate that they still remain in a position of threat. And the fact that remains at the moment is that Russia has over 150 thousand troops around Ukraine – he concluded – and the invasion remains a distinct possibility “. Di Maio “The only way forward is the one that leads to peace and stability. I am convinced that for the current crisis there is only a diplomatic solution that puts an end to the tensions and avoids any aggression”. This is what Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio reiterated, speaking in Kiev after a meeting with his Ukrainian colleague Dmitro Kuleba. “Italy, in coordination with its partners, concentrates every effort on this solution – he assured – In these hours diplomacy must not stop, it is the only real peaceful weapon to avoid a conflict”.