Scholz, Biden say there is no significant withdrawal of Russian troops: German cabinet

Berlin [Germany], February 17 (ANI/Sputnik): German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden said in a phone conversation on Wednesday that there is no significant withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian borders, a spokesperson for the German cabinet told reporters.
"Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz exchanged views on the situation in and around Ukraine in a telephone conversation tonight with US President Joe Biden," the spokesperson said.
"Both were unanimous that the situation in the region, due to the large-scale accumulation of Russian troops in the areas bordering Ukraine, should be assessed as extremely serious. The risk of further Russian military aggression against Ukraine remains, extreme vigilance is needed, no significant withdrawal of Russian troops has been observed yet," the spokesperson said.
Kiev and Western states have recently expressed concern about the alleged increase in "aggressive actions" by Russia near the borders of Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly rejected such accusations, stating that it does not threaten anyone and is not going to attack anyone and that claims about "Russian aggression" are used as a pretext to deploy more NATO military equipment near Russian borders. (ANI/Sputnik)