EUROPE (Washington Insider Magazine) – Russian President Vladimir Putin tells the world that he does not want war in Europe, but has restated that his concerns about Russia’s national security must be taken seriously. These comments come after the military said that some Russian troops were being pulled from the border.
This is the first set of signs from Moscow of a possible de-escalation of tensions. Unfortunately, leaders in the West have stated that there is currently no evidence to support what Moscow is saying, and is seeming to disregard these key maneurvers. Russia has, in recent years, had a sudden build-up in military power that prompted fears that it may invade Ukraine.
Tensions rose rapidly since November as Russian troops began to gather at the border under for an alleged military exercise. These concerns also came after repeated instances of President Putin denying any concerns with Russia invading Ukraine.
In the latest string of Western leaders to visit Moscow, Germany’s Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, had a four-hour-long meeting with Putin in an attempt to lower tensions. Following this meeting, President Putin spoke publicly in Moscow to deny allegations of incoming war threats. When reports asked about the likelihood of war breaking out, Putin was quoted stating: “Do we want this or not? Of course not. That is exactly why we put forward proposals for a process of negotiations.”
Putin followed this statement by saying that there is a precedent of war in Europe, citing the conflict in former Yugoslavia which he says was waged by NATO — without United Nations Security Council approval.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that the situation was different due to the rising danger of genocide by the Serbians against non-Serbian people. Putin then rebutted, stating that genocide was occurring against ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine where Russia is backing separatists.
Later on, Mr. Scholz was quoted telling reporters that it was wrong to use the word genocide in that case.
President Putin has said that Nato has so far not addressed Russia’s most “basic” security concerns. He is demanding that the concerns regarding Ukraine’s application to NATO be addressed now even though the process has not even been started.
Even though the buildup of troops was “incomprehensible” as stated by the German chancellor, there is still a chance for the tensions to be eased through diplomatic means.
Following the announcement that Russia had pulled some of its troops from the border, the leaders spoke for hours. NATO stated that Russia’s announcement gave cause for cautious optimism, but with an absence of any evidence to support their claims it is hard to be optimistic.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday that the United States needed to see verifiable, credible, and meaningful proof of de-escalation before moving forward. A tweet from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that there were mixed signals coming from Russia, due to intelligence showing that Russia is settling up field hospitals along the border.
Such things would only be construed as continued preparations for invasion. It is everyone’s hope that de-escalation attempts continue in the coming months and that the invasion of Ukraine truly does not come to pass.