03/30/2022 05:12 (act 03/30/2022 05:20)
The destruction in Ukraine is enormous ©APA/AFP
Top Ukrainian and Western military leaders have expressed doubts about the announced reduction in Russian military activities in northern Ukraine. The Ukrainian general staff stated on Wednesday night: “The so-called ‘troop withdrawal’ is likely a rotation of individual units aimed at deceiving the military leadership of the Ukrainian armed forces.” The US Department of Defense has warned of a new Russian military offensive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of “positive” signs from Moscow on Tuesday, but assured that Ukraine would continue to fight for the time being. After the three-hour talks in Istanbul on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said that “in order to build confidence”, the decision was taken to “radically” reduce Russia’s military activities near Kiev and the city of Chernihiv to the north. . Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinski spoke of a “significant discussion” in Istanbul. The Ukrainian proposals would now be presented to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian side had proposed an “international agreement” to guarantee Ukraine’s security. Several countries must be guarantors as signatory states, explained Ukrainian chief negotiator David Arachamia, referring to Article 5 of NATO. The Confederation Case article states that an attack on a defending alliance country counts as an attack on all allies.
Accordingly, the US, China, France and Britain as permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as Turkey, Germany, Poland and Israel are possible guarantee states for Kiev.
The negotiations in Istanbul, which were actually scheduled for Wednesday, ended. According to Russian information, negotiations are expected to continue via a video link.
“The Russian army still has great potential to continue attacks on our state,” Zelenskyy said in a video message late on Tuesday. That is why Ukraine will not reduce its defense efforts. Nor should there be any lifting of sanctions against Russia. This “can only be considered when the war is over and we take back what is ours”.
The US Department of Defense was highly skeptical. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said only a “small number” of Russian troops appeared to be leaving Kiev so far. This is not a “retreat”, but a “repositioning” of troops. Russian forces have “failed” in their attempt to take Kiev and are in defensive positions in the face of Ukrainian counterattacks. Russia may continue to fire missiles at Kiev from afar, Kirby warned. “The threat to Kiev is not over,” Kirby said.
US President Joe Biden also reacted cautiously to the Russian announcement that it would significantly reduce hostilities in northern Ukraine. Biden told the White House that he did not want to evaluate the statements until he saw “the actions” of the Russian military. “Let’s see if they implement what they propose.” Until there is real change, pressure on Moscow with “tough sanctions” will continue and the Ukrainian military will continue to be supported, Biden said.
The British Defense Ministry called it “very likely that Russia is trying to shift its strike force from the north to the (separatist) regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in the east” on Twitter. Britain plans to hold a donors’ conference on Thursday to supply Ukraine with more weapons.
Meanwhile, fighting in Ukraine continued. According to Ukrainian sources, twelve people were killed and another 33 were injured in a Russian attack on the regional administration in the southern Ukrainian town of Mykolaiv. Russian armed forces also bombed the Starokostiantyniv military airport in western Ukraine and, according to Ukrainian sources, completely destroyed the fuel depots there.
Vitali Klitschko, mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, called for the withdrawal of all Russian troops as a basis for negotiations with Moscow. In “Bild” Klitschko says: “We can talk about normalization when every Russian soldier is out of our country”. The former world boxing champion also said that Ukrainian soldiers had given “a good response” to Russian attacks and “completely ruined the myth of the strongest army in the world”. “The Russians were not surprised, they were shocked because no one expected the Ukrainian army to be able to give a good response to the aggressor.”