ForMin Aurescu: Russian Federation withdrawal of troops also shows heavy equipment remains deployed

The recent announcement by the Russian Federation on withdrawal of its troops from around Ukraine also shows that heavy defence equipment remains on the ground and could be used "in a second or more iterations of this event," Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Sunday, reports agerpres.

He spoke on Antena 3 about Russia's announcement on the withdrawal of its troops deployed in and around Ukraine, pointing out that evaluations must be made and steps taken for de-escalation.

"In fact, the announcement made by the Russian Federation also shows that the heavy equipment remains deployed, which is still a sign of concern; on the one hand because it means that it could be used in a second or more iterations of this event that took place in the Black Sea region, secondly, it shows that the equipment is not left alone, obviously, which means that in any case, even if this withdrawal takes place, it will not be a total one," said the head of the Romanian diplomacy.

He added that what his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba said in Bucharest on Friday, namely that those bans that the Russian Federation has introduced on maritime navigation on certain portions of the Black Sea remain, to which an air ban in certain sectors of the Black Sea is added.

At the same time, Aurescu mentioned his discussions at a meeting on Friday with his Turkish and Polish counterparts.

"There are elements of concern that justify this approach of ours, including in this trilateral summit, and the fact that we had this event in Bucharest shows the seriousness with which we focus on regional developments," Aurescu said.