The latest on the Ukraine-Russia crisis and what to know about hopes of averting war
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Germany's chancellor on Tuesday after the Kremlin signaled that it was still possible for diplomacy to head off what Western officials have said could be an imminent invasion of Ukraine.
In another possible sign that the Kremlin would like to lower the temperature raised by its amassing of troops bear Ukraine's border, Russia announced that some units participating in military exercises would begin returning to their bases.
But much remains unclear about Russia's plans and how the latest crisis over Ukraine will play out.
Here바카라 게임 웹사이트s a look at what is happening where and why:
WHAT IS THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT SAYING?
Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s Defense Ministry announced that some units participating in exercises would begin returning to their bases. But it wasn't immediately clear where exactly these troops were deployed or how many were leaving.
The news came a day after Western officials said some forces and military hardware were moving toward the Ukrainian border, muddying the picture. to invade Ukraine, despite placing troops on Ukraine바카라 게임 웹사이트s borders to the north, south and east and launching massive military drills nearby.
Russia has massed more than 130,000 troops near Ukraine. While the U.S. agreed that there was still a possibility of a diplomatic path out, the country, along with the U.K. and other allies, have kept up their warnings that those forces could move on Ukraine at any moment.
At a meeting with Putin on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated that Russia was ready to keep talking about it has raised during the crisis.
Asked Tuesday about troops returning to permanent bases after exercises, Lavrov stressed that Russia holds military drills 바카라 게임 웹사이트on its own territory and according to its own plans, they start, go on and end as planned.바카라 게임 웹사이트
HOW DO OTHERS SEE THAT?
Ukraine's leaders voiced skepticism.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Russia constantly makes various statements,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트That바카라 게임 웹사이트s why we have the rule: We won바카라 게임 웹사이트t believe when we hear, we바카라 게임 웹사이트ll believe when we see. When we see troops pulling out, we바카라 게임 웹사이트ll believe in de-escalation.바카라 게임 웹사이트
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said France was trying to confirm the information about Russian troop movements and he would speak 바카라 게임 웹사이트carefully.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트But if confirmed, that바카라 게임 웹사이트s obviously a good thing. That would be a sign of de-escalation, which we have been calling for for several weeks. That would also confirm that we were right to reinitiate dialogue,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Attal said. French President Emmanuel Macron met with Putin in Moscow last week.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that 바카라 게임 웹사이트so far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground, not seen any signs of reduced Russian military presence on the borders of Ukraine.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Stoltenberg said Russia has in the past moved into areas, like Belarus, with troops and equipment, then pulled back while leaving military material in place for rapid use later. He said that NATO wants to see a 바카라 게임 웹사이트significant and enduring withdrawal of forces, troops, and not least the heavy equipment.바카라 게임 웹사이트
However, Stoltenberg said there are 바카라 게임 웹사이트some grounds for cautious optimism바카라 게임 웹사이트 for diplomatic efforts given the signals coming from Moscow.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russia was sending 바카라 게임 웹사이트mixed signals.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트We are seeing Russian openness to conversations,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Johnson said after a meeting of his government바카라 게임 웹사이트s COBRA crisis committee. 바카라 게임 웹사이트On the other hand, the intelligence we are seeing today is still not encouraging.바카라 게임 웹사이트
He said Russia continued to build field hospitals in Belarus near the Ukrainian border, which 바카라 게임 웹사이트can only be construed as preparation for an invasion.바카라 게임 웹사이트
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE DIPLOMATIC FRONT?
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Putin in Moscow, a day after he visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in a show of solidarity.
On Monday, Scholz demanded 바카라 게임 웹사이트clear steps to de-escalate the current tensions" from Russia. And he underlined Western unity in preparing to impose tough sanctions if Russia does encroach further into Ukraine, though once again he didn't specify what exactly what those would be.
Scholz said that 바카라 게임 웹사이트we are in a position any day to take the necessary decisions.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트No one should doubt the determination and preparedness of the EU, NATO, Germany and the United States, for example, when it comes to what has to be done if there is military aggression against Ukraine,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he added. 바카라 게임 웹사이트We will then act, and there will be very far-reaching measures that would have significant influence on Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s possibilities of economic development.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau of Poland, currently the chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, met Lavrov in Moscow. Rau said the OSCE has offered multilateral talks aimed at easing tensions.
Ukraine바카라 게임 웹사이트s foreign minister hosted his Italian counterpart. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he conveyed to Zelenskyy during a phone call Japan's strong support for diplomatic efforts and in case of aggression.
WHAT DO RUSSIAN LAWMAKERS WANT?
Russian lawmakers called on Putin to recognize rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine, the two self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People바카라 게임 웹사이트s Republics, as independent states. The State Duma, Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s lower house of parliament, voted Tuesday to submit an appeal to Putin to that effect, put forward earlier by Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s Communist party.
Kyiv isn't fulfilling the Minsk agreements, mediated by Germany and France in an effort to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, and 바카라 게임 웹사이트our citizens and compatriots that live in Donbas need help and support,바카라 게임 웹사이트 State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on the Telegram messaging app.
Volodin said the document will be submitted to Putin 바카라 게임 웹사이트immediately.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier Tuesday that the issue of recognizing the self-proclaimed republics is 바카라 게임 웹사이트very, very relevant to the public.바카라 게임 웹사이트 But it was unclear what consequences if any the vote would have.
WHAT'S THE FEELING IN MOSCOW?
While the U.S. has warned that Russia could invade Ukraine any day, the drumbeat of war is all but unheard in Moscow, where pundits and ordinary people alike don바카라 게임 웹사이트t expect Putin to attack Russia's ex-Soviet neighbor.
The Kremlin has cast the U.S. warnings of an imminent attack as 바카라 게임 웹사이트hysteria바카라 게임 웹사이트 and 바카라 게임 웹사이트absurdity,바카라 게임 웹사이트 and many Russians believe that Washington is deliberately stoking panic and fomenting tensions to trigger a conflict for domestic reasons.
Putin바카라 게임 웹사이트s angry rhetoric about NATO바카라 게임 웹사이트s plans to expand to Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s 바카라 게임 웹사이트doorstep바카라 게임 웹사이트 and its refusal to hear Moscow바카라 게임 웹사이트s concerns has struck a chord with the public, tapping into a sense of betrayal by the West after the end of the Cold War and widespread suspicion about Western designs.
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Dasha Litvinova in Moscow, Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Jill Lawless in London, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.