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Russia Ukraine News Highlights: Russia announced a new drawdown of military forces from the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula on Thursday, despite Ukraine's Western allies meeting similar announcements with scepticism. "Units of the southern military district that ended tactical exercises at training grounds on the Crimean peninsula are returning by rail to their permanent bases," the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
State-run television showed columns of military hardware crossing a recently-constructed bridge connecting the peninsula to the Russian mainland.
Thursday's announcement is the latest reported drawdown of a Russian military force estimated by the West to be more than 100,000 troops, which Washington had said could be preparing to invade.
NATO, the United States and European leaders have denied, however, that there is any meaningful pullback of Russian troops and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow's military personnel were actually rotating.
Russia took control of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and threw its weight behind pro-Moscow separatists in fighting that broke out that year and has claimed more than 14,000 lives.
What has happened so far?
In November last year, satellite images revealed a build-up of 1,00,000 Russian troops and heavy military equipment along the borders of pro-West Ukraine. In December, Joe Biden warned Russia of economic sanctions if it invades Ukraine. The Kremlin had a host of security demands for the West. Russia insists that NATO must assure that Ukraine will never be admitted as a member. Russia also demanded that NATO must cease all military activity in eastern Europe.
In January, Biden assured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the US will “respond decisively” if Russia invades Ukraine. NATO put its forces on standby and reinforces its military presence in Eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets. Several countries including US, Germany, Italy, Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Australia, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and UAE urged citizens to leave Ukraine amid the possibility of a full-blown war. Many countries warned that a military evacuation may not be possible if tensions break out.
Diplomatic talks between United States and Russian officials yielded no result as Washington reiterated they cannot accept Kremlin’s demands. Vladimir Putin said his concerns have not been addressed but was ready to keep talking. He denied planning an invasion on Ukraine after Biden warned of a likely attack in February.
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Reports that Ukraine has been shelling regions controlled by Moscow-backed separatists and inside the Russian border are "pure lies", Ukraine's president said on Saturday, adding that his country would not respond to provocations.
President Voldymyr Zelenskiy was addressing senior Western security officials at the annual Munich Security Conference amid reports of explosions inside Russian territory to Ukraine's east, and in breakaway regions of Ukraine.
"What was shown yesterday in the temporarily occupied territories, some shells allegedly flying from our side, some flying all the way to Rostov, these are pure lies," he said. "They are blowing up something on their side." He urged Western countries not to wait for a possible Russian invasion to impose sanctions on Russia.
Reuters
Germany's foreign ministry said Saturday that German citizens were "urgently requested to leave (Ukraine) now," as fears mounted that Russia could invade itsneighbourin the coming days.
National carrier Lufthansa also said it was suspending regular flights to the cities ofKyivand Odessa from Monday until the end of February "due to the current situation." (AFP)
Russia's top diplomat told France's foreign minister by phone on Saturday that ignoring Moscow's security demands was bad for stability in Europe and elsewhere, Russia's foreign ministry said, as tensions surged in eastern Ukraine.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's veteran foreign minister, told France's Jean-Yves Le Drian that all countries should comply with their commitments to ensure the principle of "equal and indivisible security", the ministry said.
"Ignoring Russia's legitimate rights in this area adversely affects the stability not only on the European continent, but also in the world," it said in a statement. For his part, Le Drian said that dialogue was still possible, and that France was committed to work for it, but it was up to Russia to make that choice.
Reuters
The central bank of self-proclaimed Donetsk republic in eastern Ukraine put a limit to withdraw a maximum 10,000roubles($129) per day from ATMs on Saturday, TASS news agency reported, as clashes between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces resumed this week.
Reuters reporters saw people quelling at ATMs on Friday and as local citizens started to evacuate to nearby Russian region of Rostov. Card payments in the region were so far stable, according to Reuters witnesses.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that Russia's military was "poised to strike" Ukraine, even as he voiced hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin would step back from the brink of war.
Austin vowed Washington would stand with its Baltic allies during a visit to Lithuania on Saturday, as the region anxiously weighed the risks of a possible invasion. Russia denies planning any attacks. "I want everyone in Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia to know -- and I want President (Vladimir) Putin in the Kremlin to know -- that the United States stands with our allies," Austin told a news conference in Vilnius, after talks with Lithuanian leaders. (Reuters)
The United States, together with its allies, will impose significant and unprecedented economic costs on Russia if it further invades Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Saturday. National borders should not be changed by force, she said.
"We have prepared economic measures that will be swift, severe, and united," Harris said. "We will target Russia's financial institutions and key industries."
The United States will not stop with economic measures, but will further reinforce the eastern flank of NATO, Harris said at the Munich Security Conference, which she attended in person.
Reuters
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that a Russian attack on Ukraine would be a "serious mistake" with high "political, economic and geostrategic costs". There was no justification for some 100,000 soldiers massing on Ukraine's borders, he told the Munich Security Conference in a livestreamed speech.
"Russia has made the issue of Ukraine's possible NATO membership a casus belli, which is a paradox because here is no decision on this on the agenda," he said. The West was nonetheless ready to negotiate over Russia's security demands "without being naive". "We will differentiate clearly between untenable demands and legitimate security interests," he added.
Reuters
China would back Russia diplomatically and perhaps economically if it invades Ukraine, worsening Beijing's already strained relations with the West, but would stop short of providing military support, experts said. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that Russia's Vladimir Putin had decided to invade Ukraine within days, a claim Russia denies.
China's foreign ministry has repeatedly blamed the United States for "spreading false information" and creating tensions, urging it to respect and address Russia's demands for security guarantees. In a show of solidarity, Putin visited Beijing for the Feb. 4 opening ceremony of the Olympics, declaring with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a deepening "no limits" strategic partnership. Chinese state media said the two countries stood "shoulder to shoulder in upholding justice in the world".
A Russian invasion into Ukraine would test China's resolve to put those supportive words into action, especially given China's oft-stated foreign policy principle of non-interference. China almost certainly would not want to be involved militarily, experts familiar with Beijing's thinking say. Although China and Russia have moved beyond "marriage of convenience" to a quasi-alliance, relations between the giant neighbours are far from a formal alliance requiring one to send troops should the other face threats, said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University.
China has consistently called for the Ukraine crisis to be resolved peacefully through dialogue. "Just as China does not expect Russia to help it militarily in the case of war over Taiwan, Russia does not expect China to help militarily over Ukraine, nor does it need such help," said Li Mingjiang, associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Reuters
