MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Moscow leaves only essential workers at Kiev embassy

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the West's fears were “empty and groundless,” but Moscow pulled staff members off its Kiev ambassy and started joint drills with Belarus

The Russian government of President Vladimir Putin Thursday asked all non-essential staff at the embassy in Kiev to leave Ukraine as joint military drills with Belarus started near the border.

Despite recent remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron the Putin did not intend to launch an invasion, that scenario continues to be regarded as highly likely among Western powers.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov dubbed those fears as “empty and groundless,” while Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement the start of maneuvers in Belarus (called Union Resolve 2022) until Feb. 20, which will focus on “repression and repulsion of external aggression.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described these military exercises as “psychological pressure.”

“The build-up of forces on the border is psychological pressure from our neighbors,” Zelensky said in a statement. “Today we have enough strength to honorably defend our country,” he added.

Following Macron's initiative earlier this week, diplomatic negotiations are building up globally to avert the crisis from escalating up to an all-out war.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson Thursday as the United Kingdon is always willing to send in more troops to support Ukraine should a “humanitarian crisis” break out. Johnson was also to fly to Warsaw for discussions with Polish authorities.

On other diplomatic fronts, European Council Speaker Charles Michel met with German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz and US President Joseph Biden was briefed by Macron on the outcome of his endeavors.

As if the strife needed further fueling, also Thursday British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss refused to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over the Voronezh and Rostov Regions during talks with her Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov.

Truss urged Moscow to move its troops away from the Ukrainian border, and Lavrov replied by asking her if she recognized Russia’s sovereignty over the Voronezh and Rostov Regions. According to the newswire service Tass, Truss insisted the UK would never do such a thing.

Truss then invited Lavrov to visit the UK in the coming months, according to a press statement from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

“The Foreign Secretary noted that our differences were with the aggressive policy of the Russian government towards Ukraine, not with the Russian people. She highlighted the cultural and educational links between Russia and the UK and invited Foreign Minister Lavrov to visit the UK in the coming months,” it said.

“The UK wanted to see an improved bilateral relationship, but this depended on Russia choosing to deescalate and taking the path of diplomacy,” it added. Moscow has firmly and consistently rejected the claims from the West that its actions are aggressive.

“In her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that the aggressive build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine’s border threatened Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. She made clear that Russia needed to live up to the international commitments it had entered into,” the release said.

Truss' statement also warned “that any further Russian invasion of Ukraine would have massive consequences and incur severe costs. Russia needed to deescalate, withdraw its forces from the border and pursue a diplomatic path as NATO allies had offered.”