All this while, Russia has maintained that it has no plans to attack Ukraine but the presence of its massive troops, and weaponry near the latter’s borders raised fear of a war. The annexation of Crimea in 2014, which is still fresh in the minds of the people, is one of the reasons war hysteria spread to the four corners of the world. The United States then fuelled the frenzy by ordering temporary closure of its Embassy in Kyiv and relocating it to Lviv citing “dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces” and asking its citizens to immediately leave Ukraine. Several countries, including India followed suit by asking its nationals to leave the country temporarily and to avoid non-essential travel as tensions with Russia continued to simmer. India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation has also said that the curbs on the number of flights to be operated between New Delhi and Ukraine have been removed. While Russia has sent out signals of de-escalating the tension by repeatedly saying that it has pulled back troops from the borders to base camps, the US and NATO have contended that the claim is false and that there is no evidence of a pullback. It’s too early to conclude that the crisis is over and there is no need to spread panic as well. Setting aside the claims and counterclaims, what needs to be done at the moment is to defuse the tension through diplomacy and then address the issues. The leaders of European countries should continue its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis stems from Moscow’s security concerns. Russia has been resisting the move of Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, to join NATO. Now, it wants the West to assure that Ukraine will never be inducted into the alliance, in complete contrast to the NATO’s open-door policy. Moscow’s other discontentment is NATO’s military activities in Eastern Europe and non implementation of the Minsk II deal. However, these concerns have been taken up during the diplomatic attempts to ease tensions. France President Emmanuel Macron had said after talks with both the Ukrainian and Russian presidents that complying with the Minsk Accords is the only way to pave the way for peace. The UK Prime Minister and UN Secretary-General have also stressed on implementing the agreements. With German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stating that Ukraine’s NATO membership is not on the agenda and Washington saying that it is open to curtailing military drills in Eastern Europe deployment of offensive weapons in Ukraine, the core concerns of Russia have been taken up though it may take some time to put it into action. The West and Russia should continue to engage in talks, address concerns and work out a solution that will bring lasting peace in the region. Warmongering can cause destruction and nobody gains from a war.