The Ukrainian crisis: Moscow continues to withdraw its soldiers, and Beijing accuses the West of inflaming tensions | international security

Posted on Feb 16, 2022 at 12:28 inch
China NATO Russia Ukraine

While the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has reported further military withdrawal from Crimea, NATO has urged Moscow to provide supporting evidence. At the same time, China accused the United States and the West of stoking tensions by announcing an impending invasion.

On Wednesday, February 16, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that the rear guard units of the Russian Southern Military District, stationed in Crimea to conduct exercises, also began to return to their permanent bases in the Federation. The Russian news agency reported the news RIA NovostiReferring to the above-mentioned section. The latter, through an official statement, announced that the troops returning to Russia had completed the planned operations of training in the Crimea. It is a Ukrainian region that Kiev claims to be a region temporarily occupied by Russia, starting in 2014. Troops and military equipment, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and artillery support, will reach Russia by rail transportation. According to the newspaper, which is independent of the Russian armed forces, medusaTroops have already crossed the Kerch Strait on the Crimean bridge. Pre-completion of combat operations crews of Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) Hurricane and locust They conducted live-fire exercises from the Obock training camp, 40 kilometers from Kerch. The Russian Ministry of Defense issued Educational videos.

at the same time, China He made statements accusing the United States and Western partners. According to Beijing, through successive announcements of impending Russian aggression, Washington is adopting a strategy of information warfare. “Constant clamor, as well as misinformation from some Western countries, will create turmoil, uncertainty and intensify the division” among the major global players. These are the words of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, at a press briefing in Beijing. “We hope the parties will put an end to these disinformation campaigns and strive for peace, mutual trust and cooperation,” the Chinese official concluded.

On the other side, NATO He continues to urge Russia to provide evidence that the announced withdrawal is taking place, de facto. According to the Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, Moscow is already deploying additional forces along the border with Ukraine. All that remains is to know if the withdrawal has taken place, Stoltenberg said, adding that the data does in fact reveal an increase in troops, as well as the arrival of other units. The statements of the NATO Secretary-General were issued on the same day, Wednesday, on the sidelines of a two-day meeting between NATO defense ministers in Brussels. The Pentagon also announced a military reinforcement of Russia’s borders. In detail, on February 15, the US company Maxar Technologies It released new satellite images showing the many Russian military activities at various locations near Ukraine. The company, which has been following the matter closely for weeks, said images taken on Sunday and Monday highlighted significant new activity in Belarus, Crimea and western Russia. Furthermore, the Pentagon announced that the Kremlin would order cross-border units to be in an offensive position.

These developments come after Moscow began announcing the partial withdrawal of some forces from Belarus and Crimea on February 15. Also on that occasion, West said it was a positive sign, although it was necessary to wait for concrete evidence in this regard. Moreover, on the same February 15, Russia announced that it would not participate in the extraordinary summit called by Ukraine to discuss Russian military activities along its borders. Prior to convening a multilateral meeting, within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Ukraine activated the contents of the Vienna Document on February 11, urging Russia to provide the requested information within the next 48 hours.

Disagreements between Russia and the United States over the situation in Ukraine became critical after the Kremlin began deploying around 100,000 troops along its neighbor’s eastern border between November and December 2021, surrounding Ukraine with troops from the north. east and south. On the one hand, Washington continues to assert that Russia is concretely intent on invading its neighbor, asserting that it will do so in February. As a result, NATO and the United States announced a reinforcement of the eastern flank, deploying more troops to Latvia and Romania, to name a few. On the other hand, Kiev is demanding to maintain and not spread panic as it conducts military exercises on its territory. Finally, Russia also indicates that it does not want to spark a conflict, although it does require consideration of its security guarantees. Regarding the deployment of troops, the Kremlin repeats that the army is on Russian soil, and therefore it is a matter of internal affairs.

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Anna Pevereri, Russian and English translator

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