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MOSCOW. – Although the US previously claimed that Russia planned to attack Ukraine on Wednesday, the day passed peacefully with the recent partial pullback of Russian troops from some border areas, although Washington and NATO said they did not see the pullback and are insistent on their claims of imminent war to prevent an easing of tensions.
Observers pointed out that Russia maintained its strategic composure in dealing with this highly sensitive issue despite some Western politicians spouting war rhetoric to hype war risks and media disinformation.
US President Joe Biden told allies that Russia would invade on Wednesday. Western media, citing officials, even reported the exact attack time is 3am in the early morning.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson brought the topic to Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo on Tuesday, claiming they are at the brink of a cliff and urged Russia to avoid making disastrous decisions, in Chinese. The account of the Russian embassy to China denied any major military action, also in Chinese, and said Downing Street’s statement on the “Russia invasion” is information terrorism.
Ahead of the “invasion time” set by the West, Russia on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of troops near the Ukraine borders after completing joint drills with Belarus. The exercises were used by the West to demonstrate Russia’s military build-up as an “invasion preparation.”
Russia mocked the claims with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that Ukrainians who believe such things are welcome to set an alarm and stay up, Russia Today reported. Peskov previously joked that President Putin sometimes asks him – likewise in jest – if the exact time of the “invasion” has been published in the Western press.
Commenting on the non-existent “invasion,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram that “February 15, 2022 will go down in history as the day of the failure of Western war propaganda. Humiliated and destroyed without firing a shot.”
Yury Tavrovsky, head of the “Russian Dream-Chinese Dream” analytic centre of the Izborsk Club, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the withdrawal ahead of the predicted invasion puts into question the effectiveness of US and NATO intelligence services. Russia completely took control of the situation and decided whether to bring in or withdraw troops.
Having achieved an advantage in offensive weapons, primarily hypersonic missiles, Putin got the opportunity to talk to Biden on equal terms and not “blink first,” Tavrovsky said, adding that Russia has converted its military-technical achievements into geopolitical ones, and in the foreseeable future, the conversation with the West will be much tougher, Tavrovsky said.
Russia’s deputy UN envoy Dmitry Polyansky, earlier commenting on White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s speculation of an alleged Russian invasion at any time, pointed out the US tactic is a clear “panic campaign,” TASS reported.
The rhetorical bombast was mostly conducted by American politicians, as it wants a war most. The US is eager to use European anxiety over the Russian presence to fan the hysteria and bind Europe tightly to the US’ anti-Russia chariot by touting the “Russia threat,” said Yang Jin, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, .
Neither Russia nor Europe want to escalate the situation, and the Kremlin has engaged with NATO states diplomatically to control the situation while maintaining a reasonable military presence to show the Russian stance amid the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, experts said.
Tavrovsky noted that Russia has lost practically nothing during the three months of the crisis but won a lot, imposing its agenda on the West and forcing Western leaders to line up for meetings with Mr Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. – Global Times
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