Moscow, Europe Brief News – Russia President Vladimir Putin will oversee major military exercises on 19 February.
The drills include ballistic and cruise missile launches, and test how ready its nuclear armaments are, Russia says
The Kremlin said the drills are “fairly regular” and insists they’re not an escalation of the standoff with Ukraine.
There are now some 149,000 Russian troops, airmen and sailors surrounding Ukraine, said its defence minister.
World leaders meet in Munich today for an annual security conference, but Russia won’t attend for the first time since 1999.
Russia is “challenging the European peace order” and making Cold War demands, Germany’s Foreign Minister says.
Russian troops have been gathering near the Ukrainian border since November, prompting fears of an invasion.
However, Russia continues to deny it has plans to invade Ukraine and accuses the West of hysteria.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg voiced “cautious optimism” over Moscow’s overtures, but both he and U.S. President Joe Biden warned that a Russian attack remained “very much a possibility.”
Putin said he was “ready” to work with the West on de-escalating tensions, the latest signal that the prospect of war with Ukraine could be receding.
The US and its allies rang the alarm that Russia could invade Ukraine, with countries ordering citizens to leave Kyiv.
The Kremlin has dismissed Western “hysteria” over a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine with more than 100,000 troops amassed on three sides of Ukraine.
