Russia has disclosed that it was pulling back some of its forces near the Ukrainian border to their bases, making it the first major step towards de-escalation in weeks of crisis with the West.
Moscow released few details and there was no immediate outside confirmation of the withdrawal, which the Kremlin said had always been planned despite Western “hysteria” over a feared invasion of Ukraine.
It came amid an intense diplomatic effort to avert a war in Europe after Russia amassed more than 100,000 troops on the borders of its pro-Western neighbor.
Western leaders accused Moscow of preparing for a possible invasion, a claim Russia repeatedly denied, and threatened wide-ranging sanctions if an attack took place.
NATO Chief, Jens Stoltenberg, said in Brussels, there were “grounds for cautious optimism” in signs coming from Russia, but warned: “We have not seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground.”
In Moscow, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, became the latest world leader to meet Vladimir Putin in recent days, sitting for talks with the Kremlin leader that were to finish with a news conference later Tuesday.
On the streets of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, residents enjoying bright winter sunshine were warily optimistic, and grateful that Ukraine and its allies appeared to have held their nerve.
“There is no panic in society… You see how many people are walking around, they are all smiling, they are all happy,” lawyer Artem Zaluznyi, 22, told AFP on the city’s main thoroughfare, Khreschatyk Street.
But there was also caution, with many doubting that Russia would honor any promise to withdraw.
“To believe it fully would be neither smart nor wise,” Zaluznyi said.
