Russia continues military construction around Ukraine, claims NATO chief

 

Russia has consistently denied attacking Ukraine. Russian state media have reported that Russia has announced an end to ongoing military exercises in Crimea and that troops are withdrawing. On the other hand, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) chief Jens Stoltenberg has said that Russia is continuing military construction around Ukraine. The news agency AFP has given this report.

Not a single Russian soldier will remain after war drills: Belarus

On February 16, Russian state media showed pictures and videos of troops returning from Crimea. Earlier on February 15, there were reports that some Russian troops had been withdrawn, although Russia's military exercises with Belarus are continuing.

Amid ongoing war exercises between Belarus and Russia, Belarus Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has said that "not a single Russian soldier" will remain in Belarus after a massive joint exercise by Minsk and Moscow on the Ukraine border.

Putin said we don't want war

Russian President Putin has said that he does not want war and has offered a proposal for talks, but so far no concrete response has been received on Russia's proposal. US President Joe Biden has said Moscow may still attack Kiev with Russia withdrawing some troops. However, Vladimir Putin has consistently denied attacking Ukraine.

Officials in many Western countries, including the US, have warned that Russia can attack Ukraine at any time. For the past few days, diplomats of Western countries and Russia have met several times regarding Ukraine but no agreement has been reached.

Voting in Russian Parliament to recognize eastern Ukraine as an independent country

Meanwhile, the lower house of the Russian parliament has voted on President Vladimir Putin to recognize two Russian-backed separate regions in eastern Ukraine as independent. However, speaking to the media in Moscow, Putin declined to comment on how he plans to react. He said that the Russians sympathize with the residents of the Donbass region, but wanted the region's problems to be resolved through the Minsk Agreement.