US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said about “very careful” US monitoring of the withdrawal of Russian forces from the border with Ukraine. He announced this on Monday in an interview with CBS News, which aired on May 2.
During the TV broadcast, the journalist asked Blinken whether “it was confirmed that they (the RF Armed Forces – ed.) Were leaving”.
“From now on. We are following this very, very closely, ”he replied.
On April 11, the chief of American diplomacy noted that “more forces were concentrated on the border with Ukraine than ever since 2014.”
“We have seen that in the past few days a decision has been made to withdraw some of these forces. And we see that some of them have begun to retreat, ”Blinken said.
Western countries in recent weeks have repeatedly expressed concern about the statements of the Ukrainian military about the build-up of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine. The parties discussed “an aggressive build-up of military power along the borders of Ukraine and in the occupied Crimea.” In turn, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the movement of Russian troops through the territory of Russia should not bother other states, since it does not threaten them in any way.
On April 22, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu decided to complete verification activities in the Southern and Western military districts, since all the goals were achieved. The Minister assigned the task of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, the commander of the military districts and the Airborne Forces to “plan and start from April 23 the return of troops to their permanent deployment points, conduct a detailed analysis and summarize the results of a surprise check of troops.” Shoigu gave the order until May 1 to return to the places of permanent deployment of the troops that were involved in the exercises in southern Russia.