KYIV — Ukraine staged military drills and defiant displays of
flag-waving patriotism on Wednesday as Western powers warned Russia is
continuing to mass forces for a possible invasion.
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Ukraine’s President
Volodymyr Zelensky
watched troops training with some of their new Western-supplied anti-tank
weapons on a range near Rivne, west of the capital.
The demonstration of Ukrainian firepower
contrasted with images on Russian state media that were said to show
Moscow’s
forces bringing an end to a major exercise in occupied Crimea.
In Rivne, a row of vehicles was destroyed by
simultaneous missile test strikes and armored vehicles maneuvered and fired on
the yellowing moorland, while in
Kyiv hundreds of civilians marched in a
stadium with an enormous national banner.
“I see beautiful maneuvers,” Zelensky told
officers. “I thank you for defending our state. When I see you I have
confidence in the future and in our present moment.”
The “Day of Unity” displays came as the
Kremlin called for “serious negotiations” with
Washington, and European leaders
pushed hard for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis.
But NATO chief
Jens Stoltenberg, hosting the
alliance’s defense ministers in Brussels, dismissed suggestions that the threat
on the border had diminished.
“We are of course monitoring very closely
what Russia does in and around Ukraine. What we see is that they have increased
the number of troops and more troops are on their way,” he said.
And US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken told
ABC News: “What we’re seeing is no meaningful pullback.”
Russia’s huge build-up of troops, missiles,
and warships around Ukraine — which US intelligence warns could turn quickly
into an invasion — is being billed as Europe’s worst security crisis since the
Cold War.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin has demanded
Ukraine be forbidden from pursuing its ambition to join NATO and wants to
redraw the security map of Eastern Europe, rolling back Western influence.
But, backed by a threat of crippling US and
EU economic sanctions, Western leaders have launched a drive to seek a
negotiated settlement, and Moscow has signaled it will start to pull forces back.
In the latest such move, on Wednesday the
Russian defense ministry said military drills in Crimea — a Ukrainian region
Moscow annexed in 2014 — had ended and that troops were returning to their
garrisons.
Washington has demanded more verifiable evidence
of de-escalation, but US President Joe Biden has nevertheless vowed to push for
a diplomatic solution.
Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov welcomed
this. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, arriving at the NATO talks,
said reports of a partial Russian pullback “are signals that at least give us
hope. But it is important to observe closely whether these words are followed
by deeds.”
EU leaders, already gathered in Brussels for
a summit with their African counterparts, are now to hold impromptu crisis
talks on Russia and Ukraine on Thursday.
Zelensky has downplayed threats of an
immediate Russian invasion, but is attempting to rally his people with the “Day
of Unity” celebrations under Ukraine’s blue and gold banner.
On Wednesday, after the Rivne drills, he was
to visit Mariupol, a frontline port city near a breakaway region held by
Russian-backed separatists.
In a video message, the 44-year-old former
television actor said flags would fly across the country and that the national
anthem “Ukraine has not yet died” would be sung.
“Great people of great Ukraine! This day is
ours,” he declared.
The EU ambassador to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas,
along with the German, Estonian, Polish, and Spanish envoys were headed to
Mariupol with the president in solidarity.
Maasikas also said that he had raised the
Ukrainian flag alongside the EU one at his embassy, adding: “Not sure it’s
fully according to the rules, but these are extraordinary times.”
In Kyiv, the capital’s deputy mayor Valentyn Mondryivsky
said headteachers have been given guidance on “emergency situations” and that
bomb shelters would be available at all schools.
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