Despite Russia announcing a pullback of some of its troops stationed around Ukraine’s borders and welcoming further talks with the West, the United States and its allies have said they need evidence of the troop movements and warned that the threat of a Russian invasion still looms.
President Joe Biden said Washington had not verified Moscow’s withdrawal of forces.
“Our analysts indicate that they remain very much in a threatening position,” he said, adding, however, there was still room for diplomacy to solve the crisis.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Ukraine’s citizens to display national flags and don blue and yellow ribbons in order to demonstrate the country’s “unity to the whole world”.