Russia announced the start of a pullback of some forces after drills that raised U.S. and European alarm about a possible military assault on Ukraine.
Markets rallied on news of the withdrawal as investors took the move as a positive sign of possible de-escalation by Russia amid a major diplomatic push following weeks of warnings from the U.S. and Europe about the risks of a conflict. The Kremlin has consistently denied it plans an attack and President Vladimir Putin endorsed continued diplomacy with the West at talks with his foreign minister on Monday.
Units of the Western and Southern military districts are already loading equipment onto road and rail transport after completing their drills and will begin returning to their permanent bases Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a video posted on its website. Other military units are continuing drills at training grounds in Russia and “as soon as the combat training activities are completed, the troops, as always, will” return to their bases, he said.
The U.S. and NATO have warned that Russia has massed some 130,000 troops near the border with Ukraine in preparation for a possible invasion and demanded a withdrawal to ease tensions. Russia has rejected the accusations while saying movements of forces on its own territory are an internal matter. Russia is continuing its largest drills in years in neighboring Belarus that are due to finish on Feb. 20 and is conducting naval exercises in the Black Sea that are scheduled to wrap up on Sunday.
Putin has called for the U.S. and its allies to give sweeping security guarantees, including a ban on further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that would include a refusal of future membership for Ukraine. They have rejected his demands but offered talks on other security issues including on missile restrictions and measures to build confidence. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described those proposals as “constructive” and recommended to continue talks at the meeting with Putin, while also extending efforts to attain the broader guarantees.
The ruble rose on the news, strengthening 1.3% against the dollar to 75.5518 as at 12:53 p.m. in Moscow. Oil retreated from the highest since 2014 as traders weighed a possible cooling in the crisis. Brent futures fell as much as 2.1% to trade below $95 a barrel while futures in New York also slumped.
The pullback was announced hours before Putin is due to meet in Moscow with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the latest Western leader to hold talks with him on the crisis. Putin had separate phone calls on Saturday with U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, who also traveled to Moscow last week for nearly six hours of talks with the Kremlin leader.
After warning that a Russian invasion could take place as soon as this week, the U.S. has evacuated its embassy from Kyiv and urged American citizens to leave Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed U.S. claims as “hysteria,” while accusing the government in Kyiv of preparing to try to retake regions in eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists by force. Ukraine denies this.
Some of the troops on exercise on Belarus have moved closer to the border than expected, according to Western intelligence officials. They added their intelligence showed there were currently 100 Russian battalion tactical groups massed near Ukraine’s borders and 14 more in transit. The officials did not detail the evidence behind their assessments.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin on Monday that some of Russia’s massive military exercises have already concluded, while others will end later. – Bloomberg.
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