Russia building up troops near Ukraine, not withdrawing: US

MOSCOW: The United States and NATO said Russia was still building up troops around Ukraine on Wednesday despite Moscow’s insistence it was pulling back, questioning President Vladimir Putin’s stated desire to negotiate a solution to the crisis.

In Ukraine, the government said a cyberattack that hit the defence ministry was the worst of its kind that the country had seen. It pointed the finger towards Russia, which denied involvement. People raised flags and played the national anthem to show unity against fears of an invasion.

The Russian defence ministry said its forces were pulling back after exercises in southern and western military districts near Ukraine – part of a huge build-up that was accompanied by demands for sweeping security guarantees from Washington and NATO.

It published a video that it said showed tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery units leaving the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said key Russian units were moving towards the border, not away. “There’s what Russia says. And then there’s what Russia does. And we haven’t seen any pullback of its forces,” Blinken said in an interview. “We continue to see critical units moving toward the border, not away from the border.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said moving troops and tanks back and forth did not amount to proof of a pullout. “We have not seen any withdrawal of Russian forces. And of course, that contradicts the message of diplomatic efforts,” Stoltenberg said before a meeting of the alliance in Brussels.

“What we see is that they have increased the number of troops and more troops are on their way. So, so far, no de-escalation.”

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The Kremlin said Putin was keen to negotiate with the United States, which has offered discussions on arms control and confidence-building measures while ruling out a veto on future NATO membership for Ukraine.

Russia also said it would be ready to re-route energy exports to other markets if it was hit by sanctions, which Washington and its allies have threatened if it invades Ukraine.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said sanctions against Russian banks would be “unpleasant” but the state would ensure all deposits with banks and transactions were secured. “They say we have a financial shield in the form of gold and forex reserves, budget surplus … low debt,” he told reporters.

Russia has accused the United States of hysterical war propaganda after repeated warnings of a possible attack and reports in some Western media that it would happen on Wednesday.

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that more than 150,000 Russian troops were still massed near Ukraine’s borders and an invasion remained “distinctly possible”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had “taken note” of a request from Russia’s parliament to recognise the “independence” of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since 2014.

He said that would not be in line with agreements aimed at ending the conflict, indicating Putin would not rush to recognise the separatist areas but might keep the option in reserve.

Blinken said such a step would undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty, violate international law and “necessitate a swift and firm response from the United States in full coordination with our Allies and partners”.