OP-ED

Peter Dickinson: Putin withdraws troops but Russo-Ukrainian War continues

By Peter Dickinson.

Published April 23, 2021. Updated April 23 at 1:08 am

A Ukrainian serviceman stands at his position on the frontline with Russian-backed seperatists near the small city of Marinka, Donetsk region, on April 20, 2021. - An emergency meeting between Russia, Ukraine and separatists was under way on April 20, 2021, in an effort to defuse soaring tensions over Russia's troop buildup along the ex-Soviet country's borders. A spokesman for the Ukrainian delegation told AFP that progress had been made on efforts to restore a ceasefire that was agreed last July but upended by a recent spate of clashes between Ukrainian troops and Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. (Photo by Aleksey Filippov / AFP)

Photo by AFP

Russian Defense Minister Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced on April 22 that Russian troops would begin pulling back from positions close to the Ukrainian border and returning to their bases. If fully implemented, this withdrawal will bring the curtain down on weeks of heightened tensions caused by a massive Russian military build-up close to Ukraine that had sparked fears of a possible major escalation in the simmering seven-year conflict between the two countries.