European analyst Gressel was surprised by Russia's decision to withdraw troops from the borders of Ukraine
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation / RIA Novosti
Russia's decision to redeploy troops from the Southern and Western military districts is a positive signal, but we'll have to wait and see where they go. Gustav Gressel, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, shared this opinion in a commentary to Lente.ru.
The specialist was surprised that the decision to withdraw troops from the borders of Ukraine was made now, since even at the weekend the threat of war looked quite real. “I thought that even if Putin did not want to enter the war, he would hold back strong cards a little longer,” Gressel said.
The analyst pointed to the lack of significant progress in Russia's negotiations with Europe and the United States and doubted that everything would end there. “We will see how events develop in the coming days and weeks,” he said.
Earlier it was reported that the Russian armed forces completed part of the military exercises. The units of the Southern and Western military districts began to return to their bases by rail and road. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited Moscow on February 15, called Russia's decision to withdraw troops a good sign and expressed hope that this process would continue.
