The United States has heard statements about the completion of checks on troops in the south and west of Russia and intends to monitor the situation. This was announced at a briefing on Thursday, April 22, by the spokesman for the US State Department, Ned Price.
“We have heard the announcement of Russia that it will begin to withdraw its troops from the borders of Ukraine. We have heard the words, we will wait for deeds. We will closely monitor the situation, ”he said.
At the same time, the State Department spokesman added that the United States will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine “for defense against Russia,” including through the supply of “defensive aircraft”. He did not specify the details of the deliveries.
At the same time, Price noted that Washington called on Moscow to “stop escalating tensions on the borders with Ukraine.”
On the same day, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that verification activities in the Southern and Western military districts are being completed. He instructed the General Staff and the commanders to proceed with the return of troops to the points of permanent deployment and evaluate the results of the check.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that reducing the number of troops on the border proportionally reduces tension. According to him, the country welcomes any steps to de-escalate the situation in Donbass.
At the end of March, Ukraine and a number of Western countries expressed concern about the movement of Russian troops across the territory of the Russian Federation. In turn, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said that Russia has the right to deploy troops on its territory at its discretion, this does not pose a threat to other states and should not bother anyone.
The Kremlin also stressed that Russia did not and will not take part in the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Since 2014, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup in the country. In this situation, the Ukrainian authorities blame Russia. In turn, the Russian Federation has repeatedly noted that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict.
