Putin says Russia is ready to discuss confidence-building measures

Live Ukraine Crisis Update: Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Kyiv published a statement on Tuesday urging Indians who are not need to stay in Ukraine to leave “temporarily.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow is willing to discuss missile deployment limitations and military transparency with the US and NATO. Putin said the US and NATO had rejected Moscow’s demands to keep Ukraine and other ex-Soviet countries out of NATO, suspend military deployments near Russian borders, and withdraw alliance forces from Eastern Europe during meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The announcement came after the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed a partial troop retreat following military rehearsals, raising expectations that the Kremlin isn’t preparing to invade Ukraine anytime soon. The Russian military provided no information on where or how many troops were being withdrawn. Russia has vehemently denied any intention of invading Ukraine.

In the wake of rumors that the Kremlin is withdrawing some troops from the border, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated on Tuesday that there is “cautious optimism” about Russia’s signals on Ukraine, but no hint of de-escalation. “So far, we haven’t seen any signals of de-escalation on the ground, nor have we seen any signs of reduced Russian military presence on Ukraine’s borders, but we’ll keep an eye on things.”

 Everything is in place for a new attack, but Russia still has time to back away from the brink, according to the Guardian. “Stop preparing for war and start preparing for a peaceful solution,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Kyiv released a statement on Tuesday urging people who are not need to stay in Ukraine to do so.

Despite the West’s rejection to discuss Russia’s primary demands, Russia denies any ambitions to attack Ukraine, and Lavrov suggested that Moscow should continue more negotiations. The anxieties originate from Russia’s massing of more than 130,000 troops on Ukraine’s northern, southern, and eastern borders. It has also begun large-scale military exercises in Belarus, an ally that shares a border with Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not say where the departing troops were stationed or how many of them were departing.

It showed tanks and armoured vehicles being loaded onto a train, as well as a tank commander saluting his troops as a military band played. Other than “to sites of permanent deployment,” the ministry did not say where or when the photographs were obtained, or where the military vehicles were headed.

Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said the troops were returning “as planned.” Regardless of “who thinks what and who becomes hysterical about it, who is deploying true informational terrorism,” he said, such drills always followed a schedule.