Continues …<\/a><\/p>\n\n
Ukraine says Russian troops move back from border<\/h1>\nAFP — May 21, 2014<\/h2>\n
Ukraine has said that Russian troops have moved away from the border, just days before the country\u2019s make-or-break presidential poll, but stopped short of confirming the full withdrawal the West demands.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Moscow had announced it was pulling back its forces in a move that has the \u00a0potential to deflate a bloody Kremlin-backed insurgency threatening to tear the ex-Soviet nation apart.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Kiev\u2019s Western-backed leaders were also boosted Tuesday when Ukraine\u2019s richest man Rinat Akhmetov denounced the armed rebels who have overrun a dozen \u00a0cities in his eastern industrial power base as bandits who might create \u201cgenocide\u201d. Ukraine\u2019s border service announced Tuesday that none of the estimated \u00a040,000 Russian soldiers were now stationed within 10 kilometres (six miles) of \u00a0the country.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
But Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia, on a visit to Berlin, later said \u00a0he could not confirm a withdrawal.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
\u201cI hope that the declarations by Russian politicians that the troops are to \u00a0be withdrawn from Ukraine\u2019s borders do not just remain declarations,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Tensions between Moscow and the West have spiralled to Cold-War highs over \u00a0the crisis in Ukraine, particularly Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea in March and \u00a0allegations it is driving the insurgency.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
The United Nations estimates that around 130 people have died since violence in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions near the Russian border broke out \u00a0last month.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
The UN refugee agency said another 10,000 people \u2014 many of them ethnic Tatars in Crimea \u2014 have been internally displaced.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Ahead of Sunday\u2019s vote, Ukrainian authorities are to hold a new round of \u201cnational dialogue\u201d Wednesday aimed at ending the insurgency. The round-table discussions are to take place in the southern city of Mykolayv.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
The United States and NATO have sent troops to Poland and the three tiny Baltic nations to calm jitters about Russian troops possibly not only overrunning Ukraine but also pushing further into Europe in a bid to reclaim \u00a0ex-Soviet satellite states.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday that a real Russian \u00a0withdrawal \u2014 following several earlier promises by President Vladimir Putin \u2014 would be an \u201cimportant contribution to de-escalating the crisis\u201d. But the war of words between Washington and Moscow showed no signs of a \u00a0let-up.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview that Moscow and \u00a0the West were still \u201cslowly but surely\u201d approaching a second Cold War.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
And US Vice President Joe Biden, on a visit to Romania, blasted Russia\u2019s \u00a0seizure of the Crimean peninsula, saying: \u201cEurope\u2019s borders should never again \u00a0be changed at the point of a gun\u201d. Amid the standoff Russia carried out a successful test-launch of an \u00a0intercontinental ballistic missile from its Kapustin Yar rocket launch site \u00a0near the Caspian Sea, news agencies reported citing the defence ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Both Kiev and its Western allies see Sunday\u2019s presidential vote \u2014 backed \u00a0only grudgingly by Moscow \u2014 as a chance to unite the culturally splintered \u00a0nation and win more legitimacy in the Kremlin\u2019s eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
However, Kiev authorities have admitted they will have a hard time ensuring \u00a0that polling proceeds smoothly in the eastern districts where the rebels still control dozens of cities and towns.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
But in a move that some say could turn the tide against the rebels, key \u00a0powerbroker Akhmetov condemned the insurgency and called people to stage \u00a0rallies for peace.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
\u201cPeople are tired of living in fear and terror,\u201d said the Donetsk native \u00a0who once funded the deposed pro-Kremlin regime but is now seeking to build \u00a0closer relations with the new Kiev team.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
The Ukrainian government hailed Akhmetov\u2019s intervention, with Interior \u00a0Minister Arsen Avakov saying it \u201cwill help (Ukrainians) settle our differences \u00a0and let our rifles gather dust\u201d. \u00a0 \u00a0Putin has denied any direct role in the uprising and has so far refused to \u00a0recognise the independence proclaimed by Donetsk and Lugansk in May 11 \u00a0referendums that both the West and Kiev have denounced as a sham.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Russia has recently rolled back its vehement opposition to Sunday\u2019s \u00a0election but also called on Kiev to immediately withdraw all its troops from \u00a0the east.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s military has so far failed to dislodge the rebels and suffered a \u00a0number of humiliating setbacks since it launched its \u201canti-terrorist\u201d offensive \u00a0five weeks ago.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
The international community is pushing for a negotiated settlement under a \u00a0peace roadmap sponsored by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in \u00a0Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Two rounds of national unity dialogue have been held but Kiev\u2019s leaders \u00a0have refused to invite the separatists \u2014 to the deep annoyance of Moscow.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
The Pentagon meanwhile said the Navy was sending a guided missile cruiser \u00a0to the Black Sea, the latest bid by Washington to reassure allies.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
The Vella Gulf will arrive in the Black Sea after the recent departure of \u00a0the frigate USS Taylor, which left the area on May 12.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
And US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that two Russian \u00a0journalists whom Moscow has accused Kiev of holding captive in eastern Ukraine \u00a0were carrying anti-aircraft missiles.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n\n
Two reporters of Russian website Life News were reportedly arrested by \u00a0Ukrainian troops near the city of Kramatorsk, prompting a furious reaction from Moscow and demands they be immediately released.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nSource<\/a> <\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Days after Madeleine Albright — infamous for replying “we think the price was worth it” when asked about 1 million dead Iraqi children — is named as monitor for the May 25 vote, conflicting reports over Russian troops withdrawal <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Current_Affairs","category-russia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97893"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98035,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97893\/revisions\/98035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Russian-troops2.jpg\" "\\"Russian")
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