Kamlesh Kumar

Russia and Ukraine: War or peace?

Russia on February 15 announced that it’s pulling back some troops from the borders of Ukraine in the first clear signal that it was ready for de-escalation. The announcement came hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin met the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in the Kremlin. “Units of the southern and western military districts, having completed their tasks, have already begun loading onto rail and road transport and today they will begin moving to their military garrisons,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. But the West remained skeptical. A day after the Russian announcement, both NATO and the U.S. said that there were no signs of actual Russian troop pull-back. U.S. President Joe Biden went a step ahead, saying he was “convinced” that Mr. Putin made the decision to attack Ukraine. Allegations of ceasefire violations by both the Ukraine government and the rebels in Eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region raised turned up the heat, with the Pentagon saying the clashes could be the pretext Russia was seeking for an attack. But if one cuts through the clutter of rhetoric, there are “signs of peace”, argued this editorial of The Hindu. While Russia has mobilize over 130,000 troops on the three sides of Ukraine, it has also kept all the diplomatic channels open. And three European leaders and many more diplomats visited Moscow in recent weeks. Of them, the diplomatic interventions made by French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Mr. Scholz were particularly significant. While Mr. Macron took steps to revive the Minsk Accords to address Ukraine’s internal conflict, Mr. Scholz said twice, first in Kiev and then in Moscow, that Ukraine’s entry into NATO is “not on the agenda right now”. In a televised address, U.S. President Joe Biden, who warned Russia of “severe costs”, also said, “Neither the U.S. nor NATO have missiles in Ukraine. We do not — do not have plans to put them there...” Put together, these proposals offer at least solid talking points to push for a diplomatic solution. While the rhetoric of a conflict is still high, all sides remain open to walking down the diplomatic road. India and the world