Russia announced, Thursday, April 22, that it would launch the next day the withdrawal of its troops massed near Ukraine and annexed Crimea, ending a military presence that worried the West and Kiev.
In another apparent sign of de-escalation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to receive his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky "at any time" in Moscow to talk about the deleterious bilateral relations between their two countries.
However, he referred him to the separatists to talk about settling the conflict in the east, which has been experiencing an outbreak of violence since the beginning of the year.
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The presence of tens of thousands of soldiers near Ukraine, which has been fighting pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country since 2014, has greatly fueled the tensions between Moscow, Kiev and the West and given rise to assaults. verbal weapons.
NATO has taken note of the announcement of the withdrawal of Russian soldiers but "remains vigilant," said an Alliance official.
"Any de-escalation measure on the part of Russia would be important and should have been taken a long time ago. NATO remains vigilant (...) and we continue to call on Russia to withdraw all its forces from Ukrainian territory," he said. responsible in a press release.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also welcomed this withdrawal, saying it led to "a proportional reduction in tension" while ensuring that his country remained "vigilant".
The Ukrainian authorities had so far accused Russia of seeking to "destroy" their country and of preparing an invasion.
"The troops have demonstrated their ability to ensure a reliable defense of the country"
Moscow retorted that its soldiers were carrying out "exercises" intended to deal with NATO's "threatening acts" on its eastern borders and "provocations" from Kiev.
And the Kremlin has repeatedly stressed "do not threaten anyone".
"The troops have demonstrated their ability to ensure a reliable defense of the country. So I decided to complete the inspection activities in the southern and western military districts," bordering Ukraine, said the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Choïgou.
The deployed soldiers will return before May 1, he added.
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The latter had arrived a few hours earlier in this peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 to attend one of the phases of these military exercises involving 10,000 soldiers, the air force, some forty warships, anti-aircraft defense and air forces. airborne troops.
By receiving his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow on Thursday, Vladimir Putin assured him that he would "welcome" any attempt by Kiev to restore good relations with Russia, despite "numerous [Ukrainian] measures aimed at destroy them ".
On Tuesday, Volodymyr Zelensky offered Vladimir Putin a meeting in the conflict zone with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists continues
Before Friday's maneuvers in Crimea, several other exercises had taken place in the previous days in the Black Sea, while tens of thousands of soldiers - up to 100,000 according to the European Union - were massed on the Ukrainian borders and in Crimea.
Moscow has also limited for six months the navigation of foreign military and official ships in three areas off the annexed peninsula, in particular around the Kerch peninsula.
The latter area is the most controversial, as it is close to the Kerch Strait, connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, which is of crucial importance for exports of grain or steel produced in Ukraine.
These restrictions had been denounced as an "escalation" by Washington.
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While the withdrawal of Russian troops should ease tension, the conflict between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists continues in eastern Ukraine and has claimed dozens of lives since January.
A Ukrainian soldier was killed Thursday in a bombing raid on the front line, according to the Ukrainian army.
Shortly before the announcement of the end of the Russian maneuvers, Ukrainian soldiers stationed near the town of Pisky, on the outskirts of Donetsk, one of the separatist strongholds, still doubted the possibility of resolving the crisis through dialogue.
"Everything is deadlocked, no one wants to settle the conflict by diplomatic means, but no one wants war either," said Kyrylo, 35, a military officer in charge of reconnaissance.
With AFP
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