Did Russia's border pullback ease tensions in April 2021?

What had changed on the Russia–Ukraine border by 26 April 2021? The days before that date brought an announcement of a pullback and an unusual invitation to talks.

On 21 April 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to a face-to-face meeting on the front line in the war-torn Donbas. The aim, as Zelensky framed it, was to negotiate an end to the conflict.

On 22 April 2021, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it would begin moving its forces away from the Ukrainian border the following day. Ukraine and its western allies had accused Russia of trying to provoke conflict by moving troops to the border. Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu had said the deployment was only to conduct drills.

Together, the two announcements marked a shift in tone after weeks of mutual accusation, with one side proposing direct talks in the conflict zone and the other declaring that its troop movements were being wound down.