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Russian pullback and Zelensky's offer of talks
Summary
A look back at the diplomatic backdrop in Ukraine and Russia in late April 2021, after a troop build-up near the border.
What was the state of play between Kyiv and Moscow on 27 April 2021? It followed two notable moves in the days before.
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, he said, was to negotiate an end to the conflict.
On 22 April 2021, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it would move its forces away from the Ukrainian border starting 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 claimed that the deployment was only to conduct drills.
By 27 April 2021, then, the public picture combined an open invitation from Kyiv to talk in Donbas with a Russian announcement of withdrawal from the border area.
