Hours after Russia has announced to start pulling out troops from the Ukraine border after weeks of build-up, President Vladimir Putin said, it does not want a war in Europe. Addressing a joint conference after talks with Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Russian President Putin called for the conflict to be resolved through diplomacy with the West. He also said, Moscow is ready to discuss confidence-building with the US and its NATO allies.
The Germany Chancellor said that he agreed with Russia’s assessment that there is still a chance to avert war over Ukraine through diplomatic negotiations. The German and Russian leaders have met in Moscow with Ukraine high on the agenda. Both leaders expressed willingness to continue addressing European security issues through dialogue.
In a joint press conference after meeting, the chancellor said, it is our absolute duty as heads of government that Europe does not see an escalation into war. Mr. Scholz added that high-level dialogue between Russian and Germany’s European partners is essential to achieving stability moving forward.
Earlier in the day, Russia said that some of its forces deployed near the Ukrainian border were returning back to their bases.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Russian announcement gave cause for cautious optimism, but so far there has been no evidence of the de-escalation on the ground. However, NATO’s chief welcomed signals from Russia in the past two days that it may be looking for a diplomatic solution but urged Moscow to demonstrate its will to act.
Ukraine expressed skepticism about Russia’s statements on the pullback.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during a call that a verifiable, credible, meaningful de-escalation by Moscow is needed.
Earlier, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that there were mixed signals coming from Russia.
