Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — While the U.S. warns that Russia could invade Ukraine any day, the drumbeat of war is all but unheard in Moscow, where pundits and ordinary people alike don’t expect President Vladimir Putin to launch an attack on its ex-Soviet neighbor.

The Kremlin has cast the U.S. warnings of an imminent attack as “hysteria” and “absurdity,” and many Russians believe that Washington is deliberately stoking panic and fomenting tensions to trigger a conflict for domestic reasons.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia said Tuesday that some units participating in military exercises would begin returning to their bases, adding to glimmers of hope that the Kremlin may not be planning to invade Ukraine imminently. But it gave no details on where the troops were pulling back from, or how many.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: Large-scale movements of troops are observed in Ukraine near the territories of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) , which only escalates tensions in the region, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: The European Union will not use preventive sanctions against Russia due to the situation around Ukraine because of the position of a number of European countries that advocate a more balanced and moderate approach towards the Russian Federation, Deputy Director at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Valdai Club expert Dmitry Suslov said in an interview with TASS on Monday.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: Russia still has a chance to reach a consensus with its Western partners on issues of security guarantees, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

When asked by the president whether there is a change to reach an agreement with the Western partners on the key security issues of concerns of the Russian side, the minister answered in the affirmative. "After all, as a foreign minister, I should say that there always is a chance," he said.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss de-escalation around Ukraine, security guarantees and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline at a meeting, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"All these subjects obviously top the agenda," the Kremlin spokesman said when asked to clarify whether de-escalation around Ukraine, security guarantees and Nord Stream 2 will be discussed at the leaders' meeting.

MOSCOW, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A senior Russian military official said on Monday that Russia was ready to open fire on foreign ships and submarines that illegally enter its territorial waters, the Interfax news agency reported.

Any such decision would, however, be taken only at the "highest level", Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov, deputy head of the main operational department of the General Staff, was quoted as saying.

MOSCOW, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Russia's parliament will vote on Tuesday to decide whether to ask President Vladimir Putin to recognise two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent, the speaker of the Duma lower house said.

Vyacheslav Volodin said lawmakers would consider two alternative resolutions on recognition of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, in the area known as the Donbass, where separatist forces have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin on Monday to keep talking with the West on Moscow’s security demands, a signal from the Kremlin that it intends to continue diplomatic efforts amid U.S. warnings of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow wants guarantees from the West that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and that the alliance will halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe, the demands flatly rejected by the West.

MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/: Moscow will consider the views that US President Joe Biden expressed in a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin when working on a reaction to the United States and NATO’s response to its proposals on security guarantees, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Saturday.

"The two presidents agreed that Moscow will carefully study the views that Biden expressed and if possible, take them into account when working on a reaction to the documents on the US and NATO’s positions," he pointed out.