The UK’s defence secretary has cast skepticism over a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine’s border, suggesting Putin was still making his mind up.
Ben Wallace said Russia “hasn’t taken the foot off the gas” and that we had not seen evidence of the withdrawal claimed by the Kremlin.
It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “of course” Russia did not want war in Europe and the military claimed some troops were withdrawing from the border.
But Wallace stressed that Putin still had a very large force on the border which could “overwhelm” Ukraine if deployed.
The secretary of state made the comments on the day Russia was rumoured to invade, but has so far held back.
Wallace told Sky News: “We are in a position where we don’t think president Putin has made a final decision, which is again why we think those forces are still poised at readiness.”
Wallace said that until we see a “proper de-escalation” we should all be “cautious” about the direction of travel from the Kremlin.
“I think what we haven’t seen is evidence of withdrawal that has been claimed by the Kremlin, in fact we’ve seen continued build-up of things like field hospitals and strategic weapons systems,” he added.
However, the former head of MI6 Sir John Sawers said the risk of a “full-blooded” Russian invasion was never as high as some Western governments portrayed and had now “receded”.
He told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t think that president Putin ever decided to invade the country and, indeed, I think it would always have been a very risky course for him to have taken.”
It comes after US president Joe Biden cast doubt on the supposed withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s border and said an invasion remains “distinctly possible”.
Assessing that there were 150,000 troops “encircling” Ukraine, Biden added: “The Russian defence ministry reported today that some military units are leaving their positions near Ukraine. That would be good but we have not yet verified that.”
The US president spoke directly to Russian citizens, telling them: “You are not our enemy.”
The president said that if Russia attacks Ukraine it would be a “war of choice, a war without cause or reason”.
Boris Johnson also said Russia was sending “mixed signals”. “We’ve got Russian field hospitals being constructed near the border with Ukraine in Belarus, which can only be construed as a preparation for an invasion,” he said.
Moscow has claimed it is withdrawing some forces after the completion of drills. The defence ministry published video of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery being loaded on to trains.