Muristek
Kyiv, February 17
NATO allies have accused Russia of misleading the world and disseminating "disinformation" by saying it was returning some troops to bases, charging that Moscow has instead added 7,000 more troops near its tense border with Ukraine.
With western fears high that Russia is planning to invade, tensions also spiked on Thursday along the line that separates Ukrainian forces from Russia-backed separatists in the country's east, with the parties accusing each other of intensive shelling. After a handful of positive signals from Russia that lowered the temperature in the crisis earlier in the week, the pendulum appeared to be swinging in the opposite direction again. With an estimated 1,50,000-plus troops massed near Ukraine, the Kremlin offered to keep pursuing diplomatic solutions — an overture the NATO chief welcomed, even as he and others warned that the US-led alliance has still seen no sign of the military withdrawal that Moscow announced.
"We have seen the opposite of some of the statements. We have seen an increase of troops over the last 48 hours, up to 7,000," said British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace ahead of a meeting on Thursday of the western alliance in Brussels. That squared with what a US administration official said a day earlier. British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey even called Russia's claim to be withdrawing troops "disinformation".
While the West warned the threat of invasion remains high, no attack materialized Wednesday, as some had feared.
Moscow said several times this week that some forces are pulling back to their bases, but it gave virtually no details that would allow for an independent assessment of the scope and direction of the troop movement, and Western leaders quickly cast doubt on those statements. On Thursday, NATO allies knocked down the Russian assertions again, and warned that they are ready to counter any aggression.
"The consequences of this mass buildup ndash; nearly 60% of Russia's land combat forces on the border of a sovereign nation ndash; will get you the opposite effect," Wallace said. — AP
EU leaders assess chances of diplomacy
Brussels: European Union leader held a short summit meeting on Thursday to assess the chances of diplomacy to unlock the standoff over Ukraine and discuss sanctions in case Russia invades its neighbour. "Diplomacy has not yet spoken its last word. That is good and we have still hope that peace will prevail," said EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. AP
Russia expels deputy chief of US mission
Kyiv: A US Embassy spokesman told a Russian news agency on Thursday that Russia had expelled Bart Gorman, the deputy chief of of the US mission in Moscow. No details were given for the action. AP
Threat of invasion very high: biden
Kyiv: President Joe Biden said on Thursday that there was a "very high" risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and that could happen within "several days". Speaking at the White House, Biden said the United States saw no signs of a claimed Russian withdrawal of forces along its border with Ukraine. AP