Britain has not yet see some evidence “Russia is withdrawing its troops from their positions near the Ukrainian border and should be judged by its actions in terms of de-escalating tensions in the region,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News on Wednesday.
“We have not seen any evidence of this withdrawal at this time,” he told Times Radio.
“We do not dispute what Russia is saying, but we will judge it by its actions,” he added.
“It is quite clear that their intentions towards Ukraine are to change their behavior and indeed to change NATO’s relationship with Ukraine and they are doing so with the threat of invasion,” Wallace said.
The defense minister, who is in Brussels for a NATO summit, added that although Moscow has said it is sending troops back to their bases, “when (Russian) troops set up blood banks and campaign hospitals, this is not a sign of de-escalation “.
He added that the Russians have 60% of their total ground combat power on the border with Ukraine and a “significant flotilla” at sea, which means that Ukraine is “surrounded to a large extent” by a “large enough force”.
Another step towards de-escalation of tension in the Ukrainian, however, seemed to take Moscow on Wednesday. Russia’s Defense Ministry has released a video showing tanks and military vehicles leaving the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014, after completing military exercises there.
The deployment of Russian troops in Crimea has fueled concerns about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement: “Units of the Southern Military District, which have completed their participation in regular high schools in test areas of the Crimean peninsula, are headed by trains back to their permanent bases.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov described the scenarios for a Russian attack as “empty and unfounded” on Tuesday. “They serve as a ploy to escalate tensions,” he said, adding that Russia “poses absolutely no threat to anyone.”
However, Peshkov still did not rule it out “Possibility of provocation” which “aims to justify such allegations”, and warned that “efforts to use military force to resolve the crisis in south-eastern Ukraine will have serious consequences”.
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