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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the process of withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine's borders should be measured by its results.

The Ukrainian president announced this in an interview for the Italian newspaper la Repubblica.

"Russia's reports about the withdrawal of troops from our border to the permanent bases are reducing tension, this is logical. But we need to measure this process by its results – the tension will be decreasing in proportion to how many troops will be withdrawn," he said.

According to him, since the very first day of the current crisis, the Ukrainian side insisted that no one would benefit from escalation and the military build-up.

Read alsoRussia releases footage of troop withdrawal from Crimea after military build-upThere will be no guarantees of calmness and full security on the continent until there is no peace in eastern Ukraine, he said.

Russian troops amassing along Ukraine's borders

  • On March 30, 2021, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak said Russia had deployed 28 battalion tactical groups along the state border of Ukraine and in the temporarily occupied territories. It is also said to be planning to bring up to 25 battalion tactical groups under the guise of preparing for military drills. Such actions pose a threat to Ukraine's military security.
  • Fifteen warships of Russia's Caspian Flotilla entered the Black Sea.
  • Russia also relocated Su-25SM3 warplanes from Russia's Stavropol Krai (Territory) to occupied Crimea.
  • On April 20, 2021, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the number of Russian troops on the borders with Ukraine might increase to over 120,000 servicemen within a week.
  • On April 22, 2021, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said his country would begin the withdrawal of troops, which had taken part in military exercises in occupied Crimea and near the borders of Ukraine, to their permanent bases in the Southern and Western Military Districts.