Putin's ‘Mixed Signals' On Ukraine

Boris Johnson has accused Vladimir Putin of sending “mixed signals” after Russian military chiefs announced the withdrawal of some of its troops from the Ukrainian border.

-  Macer Hall

SIGNS OF ESCALATING INVASION PREPARATIONS

The Russian president yesterday insisted his country “of course” did not want a war in Europe – while Western intelligence indicated continued invasion preparations, including the construction of field hospitals.

Mr Johnson expressed scepticism about the “signs of a diplomatic opening” coming from the Kremlin after the Russian Defence Ministry released images of tanks being loaded on to a train as a sign of withdrawal.

Threatening

The Prime Minister warned intelligence from the front-line in the stand-off was “not encouraging”.

And Joe Biden also said the US has “not yet verified” claims that Russian troops are withdrawing from the Ukrainian border.

He said: “Indeed our analysts indicate that they remain very much in the threatening position.”

Mr Johnson also told the EU’s top official that “more could be done” by Western allies to show a united commitment to imposing tough sanctions on Russia if an invasion goes ahead.

His comments came as it was announced a cyber attack had hit the websites of Ukrainian government agencies and major banks.

At least 10 Ukrainian websites stopped working due to distributed denial-of-service attacks, including those of the Defence Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Culture Ministry and Ukraine’s two largest state banks.