In November, Ukraine said that Russia was gathering nearly 92,000 troops for an offensive
Paris:
Russia’s military buildup along its border with Ukraine has plunged Washington and Moscow into increasingly Cold War-style tensions.
Here is a timeline of the situation.
Troop transfer
On November 10, Washington reported unusual Russian troop movements near the Ukraine border.
On November 28, Ukraine said Russia would deploy nearly 92,000 troops for an offensive in late January or early February.
Moscow denied this and three days later accused Kyiv of building up its own army, and demanded “legal guarantees” that it would never join NATO.
Moscow demands
On December 7, US President Joe Biden threatened his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin with “strong economic and other measures” if he invaded Ukraine.
Ten days later, Moscow put forward proposals to limit US and NATO influence over the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Construction in Belarus
On January 17, Russian troops began arriving in Belarus to participate in military exercises, which Moscow says are aimed “against foreign aggression”.
Two days later, Washington announced an additional $200 million in security aid to Kyiv.
NATO on standby
On January 24, NATO put troops on standby and sent ships and fighters to bolster Europe’s eastern defenses.
The next day, Moscow began military exercises with about 6,000 troops and at least 60 fighters in southern Russia, near Ukraine and in Crimea annexed by Moscow.
On January 26, Washington refused to close NATO to Ukraine and the alliance said many of Moscow’s security requirements were “unrealistic”.
China warns US
The US said it believes Putin “will use military force between now and mid-February.”
The next day, China warned that Russia’s security concerns should be “seriously considered”.
On January 28, Putin said that the West had ignored “fundamental concerns of Russia” about NATO expansion and had “attacked weapons systems near Russia’s borders”.
UN Confrontation
On January 31, Moscow accused the US of “provocative” after Washington said 30,000 Russian troops would be deployed in Belarus near the Ukrainian border in early February.
110,000 troops
On February 2, the US sent 3,000 troops to reinforce NATO forces in Eastern Europe.
Five days later, the US said Russia now had 110,000 troops on the Ukrainian border with another 40,000 arriving within a week.
Russia and Belarus began 10-day military drills from February 10.
Withdraw or consolidate?
But over 15 Moscow says some of its forces are returning to their bases. However, NATO shows no signs of withdrawing its troops and Washington claims Russia is in fact sending reinforcements.
Artillery firepower
On shell 17, fire broke out fiercely along the front lines of two Russian-backed areas in eastern Ukraine.
On Friday, the leaders of the separatist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk said they were evacuating residents to Russia.
Blinken accused Moscow of “wrong provocations” to justify further “aggression” towards Ukraine.
impending attack?
On February 19, Ukraine said that two of its soldiers had died in attacks on the front lines with Russian-backed separatists.
Zelensky proposed a meeting with Putin, when Moscow test-fired a nuclear-capable missile.
Russia is on the verge of invading Ukraine: Washington says.
Putin-Biden summit?
France and Germany urged their citizens to leave Ukraine.
On the 20th, Belarus said that joint exercises involving Russian and Belarusian forces are being extended.
On Monday, France said that Putin and Biden had agreed to a summit.
But the Kremlin says it is too early to discuss holding a summit.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
