Conflict with Russia: US paratroopers position themselves on Poland's border with Ukraine

Created: 02/17/2022, 08:36

By: Daniel Dillman

• The conflict between Ukraine* and Russia* threatens to escalate into a war.

• The USA* sends more military units to Eastern Europe.

  US President Joe Biden* calls for Russian President Vladimir Putin* to withdraw Russian troops from the border region.

• Chancellor Olaf Scholz* (SPD*) is trying to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict.

  But does it work?

  All news in our live ticker.

There is still no sign of relaxation in the Ukraine conflict.

The US and Russia blame each other.

The troop deployment continues.

Warsaw - The US government and the NATO it leads have accused Russia of further increasing its troops on the border with Ukraine.

According to the US news portal CNN, the Kremlin is said to have sent up to 7,000 other soldiers to the border region.

The official described the announcement by Vladimir Putin's government that troops were being withdrawn from the region as "wrong".

"All the signs we're seeing now are that [Russia] is only publicly offering talks and claiming to want to de-escalate, when in reality they are mobilizing for war," the official told CNN.

The US government now assumes that Russia has more than 150,000 soldiers stationed in the border region.

Ukraine conflict: Russia should withdraw all troops from Belarus

The Russian army announced the end of exercises and the withdrawal of soldiers* off the annexed Crimean Peninsula on Wednesday.

An official video allegedly showed wagons loaded with military equipment leaving the area at night.

Belarus also pledged on Wednesday that all Russian soldiers stationed on its territory as part of maneuvers would leave the country after the exercises were scheduled to end on February 20.

According to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, "not a single Russian soldier" will remain in the country after the end of the exercises.

Due to the ongoing crisis on the Ukraine border, US President Joe Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) spoke again on Wednesday evening.

Both agreed that "a significant withdrawal of Russian troops" from the Ukrainian border "so far has not been observed".

This was confirmed by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit after the phone call.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a similar statement on Wednesday.

"On the contrary, Russia seems to be expanding its military presence." The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not confirm the Russian announcements either.

"We're seeing small rotations," he said.

"I wouldn't call these rotations a withdrawal of Russian troops."

Ukraine conflict: NATO associations increase military presence

At the same time, the NATO associations are also increasing their military presence in the nearby member states.

Hundreds of US Army paratroopers are said to have already landed in Poland, joining other troops stationed on the Poland-Ukraine border.

This is reported by both the Russian news portal Moscow Times and the French news agency AFP.

Two Boeing C-17 military aircraft landed at an airport about 100 kilometers from the border.

The units that the United States is moving to Poland also include Black Hawk and Chinook-class attack helicopters, as well as numerous armored vehicles and other military transporters.

Meanwhile, coordination between Western allies on the Ukraine crisis continues.

EU leaders will discuss evolving tensions over Ukraine on Thursday ahead of an EU-African Union summit in Brussels.

This was confirmed by a spokesman for the European Council on Wednesday.

Armored vehicles of the US Army prepare in Poland for the way to the border with Ukraine.

© Wojtek Radwanski/afp

Diplomatic efforts in Ukraine and Russia will continue over the weekend.

Great Britain* sends high-ranking government officials.

Foreign Minister Liz Truss will travel first to Kiev and then to Warsaw.

On Saturday, the foreign ministers of the G7 countries will meet on the fringes of the Munich Security Conference.

Before that, US Vice President Kamala Harris* will meet NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg and the heads of state of the Baltic States on Friday.

According to US information, she also wants to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday on the sidelines of the security conference.

(dil/afp/dpa)