Updated:
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 8:56 pm
Published: 03/30/2022 06:47
The west took that with tweezers Statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to his Russian counterpart Emmanuel Macron, in which he assured that negotiations with Ukraine had made progress and that they would reduce attacks on the capital. Oleksei Arestovich, Zelenskyi’s adviser, has assured that “the Russians are moving part of their troops in Kyiv to Mariupol to gain an advantage”. An idea shared by the Pentagon that rules out the withdrawal of Russian troops: “We have to be prepared for a big offensive‘ repeated Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.
Both Ukraine and the US Pentagon have expressed skepticism. “We are not naive”the President of Ukraine has claimed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his late night video, in which he says he thinks the Russian invasion is “coming to an end”. This does not mean that your country will reduce its “defense” effort.
“Yes, we can qualify positive the signals we hear from the trading platform. But these signs They don’t drown out pauses from Russian shellsZelensky said in his usual late-day message, published on the Ukrainian Presidency website.
The Russian army has begun withdrawing some of its troops from the outskirts of Kyiv and the besieged northern city Chernihiv to focus on winning Donbassthe primary objective of the current Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
However, Zelensky has said that “vigilance must not be lost. The situation hasn’t gotten any easier (…) The Russian army still has significant potential to continue attacks on our state.” In this sense, the West believes it could be a pause in rearmament.
The Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klishko has assured that the explosions in the capital have not stopped throughout the night. In practice, Kyiv experienced one of the busiest nights of the war. The government expects military activity to continue for at least a few more weeks
“Defending Ukraine is the number one task”
Zelenskyy reminded that the bombing of cities “continues. Mariupol is blocked. The air and missile attacks do not stop. That is the reality.” According to the latest report of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, issued at the beginning of the thirty-fifth day of the invasion and reported by the Ukrainian agency Ukrinform, “separate units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation continue to withdraw from the territories Kyiv and Chernihiv back. There are certain signs of this Russian troops regroup to concentrate their efforts in an easterly direction.
Currently, according to the General Staff, the so-called “troop withdrawal” could also be a rotation of certain units aimed at misleading the military leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and creating a misunderstanding about Russia’s refusal to surround Kyiv.
According to the Ukrainian army this morning, Russian troops are trying to “hold the captured borders” and are not executing “active offensive actions”.
In Sloviansk, a Ukrainian city in Donetsk, for example, Russian troops “regrouped and replenished supplies” while “air and missile attacks on Kreminna and Mariupol” continue.
In the vicinity of Novokarlivka and Luhivske, north of Mariupol, “the enemy continues to place fortification equipment in the captured positions and erect mine barriers”, the shelling in the Zaporizhia region and in the theaters of operations on the Black Sea and in Azov “no significant changes were noted. “, says the Ukrainian high command.
Biden on withdrawal: “We’ll see”
The United States rated Moscow’s decision as a “Laying” of troops, not as actual retreat, and warned that despite the movement of “small numbers” of units, the danger over the Ukrainian capital didn’t disappear.
“We believe this is a resettlement (of troops) no real retreat, and we should be prepared for a major offensive in other areas of Ukraine. That doesn’t mean the threat to Kyiv is over,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a news conference.
To that effect, he declared that Russia had “failed” in its bid to “capture” the capital and “subdue” the Ukrainian people, and warned that Russian forces were still inflicting “massive brutality” on it and other regions could the country.
“We will see. I won’t say anything until I see what he’s going to do. We’ll see if they stick to what they’re proposing,” for his part, United States President Joe Biden said during a press conference in which he clarified that Washington “will continue to adhere to the sanctions in place.” and “provide assistance” to the Ukrainian army.
For its part, the country’s foreign ministry has warned its citizens in Ukraine and Russia that they could be singled out and arrested by the Moscow security forces because of their nationality, and reiterated the recommendation not to travel to those countries. “U.S. citizens. They can be singled out and detained by Russian government security agents,” they have suggested from US diplomacy.
Russia: “It’s not a ceasefire”
The head of the Russian delegation in the negotiations with Ukraine, Vladimir Medinskyhas qualified Moscow’s position, claiming that reducing these military operations “does not mean a truce”.
“This is not a truce”stressed Medinski, who described the step as Moscow’s “desire” to “at least gradually achieve a reduction in the escalation of the conflict in these directions”.