Limited signs of de-escalation after Russia's announcement to withdraw troops | DW News

Russia said on Wednesday that it had finished military exercises in the occupied territory of Crimea and was withdrawing troops. The announcement comes a day after Moscow claimed it had returned an unspecified number of soldiers stationed close to the Ukrainian border back to their bases. Scenes shown on state television also showed military units, including tanks and artillery, crossing a bridge from Crimea — the Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014 — to the Russian mainland.

But observers and Western leaders remain skeptical of Russian claims and have warned that Russia could still invade its southern neighbor. US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that US intelligence has yet to verify the claims of previous withdrawals. The UK's Defense Secretary Ben Wallace reiterated the doubt over Russian claims on Wednesday morning, telling Times Radio: "We haven't seen any evidence at the moment of that withdrawal." NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned at a press conference on Wednesday that "Russia retains the ability of a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine," and expressed skepticism about the mixed messages from Russia.

Thomas Wiegold, a journalist specializing in international defense, told DW that the Russian withdrawal amounted to little because the troops in question were already garrisoned near Ukraine. "Even when those troops are withdrawn, they could be relocated pretty fast, pretty soon," Wiegold said. "We have seen that troops from Russia's Far East have been relocated to Belarus and close to Ukraine. If those troops went home a few thousand kilometers, that would make a difference." "But, if they are troops based a few hundred kilometers from Ukraine anyway, it's not really an improvement." Despite Putin's denial that any invasion is planned, Wiegold said Russia could "reserve the right to intervene" to help its citizens. Any Russian decision to recognize the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, he said, could make that prospect more likely. "If this happens, then of course, Russia considers [itself] to have the not only moral but also legal right to intervene in Ukraine. And this might change things just a bit more for the worse."

Chapters:
00:00 World leaders welcome Russia's troop withdrawal
03:45 The strategy behind the US and Russias messages
11:50 The situation at the Ukraine border
15:40 Where Russia's troops are located
18:15 Thomas Wiegold, international defense journalist
22:50 What are the nations' different positions?


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