While some Russian forces in the south and west of Russia, then on the border with Ukraine, are returning to bases because they have finished their exercises, US and British diplomacy repeat that a Russian attack on Ukraine is probable and imminent. A few hours later the German Chancellor Scholz lands in Russia to save the peace (he does not undergo the Russian anticovid test).
US and UK convinced of an attack
Putin has not yet decided whether to invade, but an invasion is still “very likely” and Russian troops are able to attack “imminently”. British foreign minister Liz Truss told Sky news. British intelligence suggests that Vladimir Putin has not yet decided whether or not to invade Ukraine, she said. Putin “can still change his mind,” said Truss and urged the Russian president to “step back from the abyss”, stressing that the UK is currently “preparing for the worst”.
Washington also raises the alarm over the risk of a Russian attack on Ukraine this week. “We are deeply concerned that Russia may take action against Ukraine already this week,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told France24 television. “Everything we see in terms of the deployment of Russian forces around Ukraine leads us to this conclusion.” “The road to diplomacy remains open,” he nevertheless stressed. “We are doing everything possible to convince Russia that it should take the path of diplomacy, the path of dialogue to resolve all existing differences peacefully.”
Hints of Russian “retreat”
In the meantime, however, some of the Russian forces deployed for military exercises near the Ukrainian border are returning to their bases. This was reported by the Moscow Ministry of Defense, quoted by TASS. However, the Interfax agency specifies: the minister says that the exercises in the country continue while some units in the south and west have completed the exercises and begin to return to the base.
Guterres (UN): deeply concerned
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said he was “deeply concerned about the growing tensions and growing speculations about a potential military conflict in Europe”. “The price of human suffering, destruction and damage to European and global security would be too high”, he said, underlining that “we cannot even accept the possibility of such a disastrous confrontation”. Guterres said he spoke yesterday with the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine to whom he reiterated that there is no alternative to diplomacy, called for the intensification of diplomatic efforts and offered the support of the United Nations. “I have made my good offices available: we will leave no stone unturned in the search for a peaceful solution”.