Pentagon casts doubt on Russian pledge to pull out of Kyiv

The U.S. Defense Department on Tuesday cast doubt on reports that Russia plans to “drastically reduce” its military activities in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

“Nobody should be fooling ourselves by the Kremlin’s now recent claim that it will suddenly just reduce military attacks near Kyiv, or any reports that it’s going to withdraw all its forces,” Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing. Kirby told reporters that while “the Pentagon has seen a small number of Russian troops leaving Kyiv in recent days,” it assesses that these movements are reflective of a “repositioning, not a major withdrawal.”

“We all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine,” Kirby said, noting that the Pentagon has also recently seen “clear indications” that Russian forces are reprioritizing military operations in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

Representatives from Ukraine and Russia met in Turkey on Tuesday to negotiate an end to the bloody war, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and forced nearly 4 million refugees to flee Ukraine since Russia launched its military invasion of the country just over one month ago. The talks, which are expected to continue on Wednesday, showed some potential signs of progress. The Ukrainian delegation outlined a proposal for neutral status, which would involve a promise not to join the NATO military alliance or host foreign military bases on its soil in exchange for security guarantees from other countries. In response, Russia’s deputy defense minister pledged to “fundamentally ... cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv” to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.”

But Kirby cautioned skepticism, suggesting that the Russian “Ministry of Defense’s recent talking points may be an effort to move the goalposts” and spin “its current lack of progress as part of what would be next steps.”

From the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kirby said, the official narrative promoted by the Kremlin about its intentions have not lined up with its actions on the ground. For example, despite Russia’s attempts to portray the invasion as a peaceful “liberation of the Donbas,” he said, the rapid advance of Russian troops on Kyiv in the initial days of the war “showed very clearly to all of us” that the capital city was a key military objective.

“No amount of spin can mask what the world has witnessed the past month, and that’s the courage and the military prowess of Ukraine's armed forces and its people, which are proving to be more than what Russia bargained for in its unprovoked and unjustified invasion,” Kirby said.

The Ukrainians have pushed Russian forces back from near the capital city, Kirby said, and in the last few days, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army has “stopped trying to advance on Kyiv” and has taken up defensive positions.

Not only has Russia “failed to take Kyiv,” Kirby said, “they’ve failed to take and hold any major population centers.

“It’s hard to see how they are succeeding in any one place except at the death and destruction they are causing to these population centers and to the civilian population,” he said.

Still, Kirby said it was too soon to declare Russia’s invasion a complete failure.

“There are still bombs falling, there’s still people dying, there’s still missiles flying and there’s still give and take on the battlefield,” he said.

In fact, hours after the Russian defense minister’s announcement on Tuesday, Kirby said, “we do continue to see strikes on Kyiv. So we’re not convinced that the threat to the capital city has been radically diminished by the proclamation.”

That said, Kirby insisted that Moscow still has an opportunity to end the war, and he urged Russian leaders to “negotiate in good faith” with their Ukrainian counterparts.

“The war could end today if Mr. Putin did the right thing and actually did withdraw all his forces from Ukraine,” he said.