RUSSIAN FORCES BEGIN WITHDRAWAL FROM UKRAINE BORDER
Kiev, 30 Jumadil Awwal 1435/31 March 2014 (MINA) – Ukrainian Defense Ministry says Russian forces have begun their gradual withdrawal from Ukraine’s border, according to Press TV report quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).
The ministry made the announcement on Monday after a meeting in Paris on Sunday between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during which they agreed to solve the Ukrainian crisis through negotiations.
“In recent days, the Russian forces have been gradually withdrawing from the border,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s general staff spokesman, Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskiy, said.
Dmytrashkivskiy added that he could not confirm how many soldiers were involved or the number of troops still stationed in the border area.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian Defense Ministry official noted that Kiev had not been formally informed of the drawdown by Moscow.
“This could be linked to a regular rotation of soldiers,” said Dmytrashkivskiy, adding, “Or it may be linked to the Russian-US negotiations.”
Earlier, the US and EU officials had estimated that Russia might have 30,000 to 40,000 troops near the border.
However, Kiev’s Center for Military and Political Studies analyst Dmytro Tymchuk suggested on Monday that Moscow had 10,000 soldiers stationed near Ukraine by Monday morning.
The Ukrainian crisis began last November, after the country’s then president, Viktor Yanukovych, refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with neighboring Russia.
The refusal triggered months of unrest and clashes with the police, which finally led to the ouster of Yanukovych on February 23. He then travelled to Russia, where he was given sanctuary.
Tensions between the Western powers and Moscow heightened after Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16, in which nearly 97 percent of Crimeans voted for reunion with Russia. (T/E01/IR)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
