Russia Extends Troop Drills Near Ukraine as Zelensky Calls for ‘Immediate’ Ceasefire

Members of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on ceasefire of the demarcation line, or JCCC, take forensic photos of damage to a house from artillery shell that landed in Vrubivka, Ukraine, on Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda

Russia extended military drills near Ukraine’s northern borders on Feb. 20 as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he supports an immediate ceasefire in the eastern portion of the country.

The exercises, originally set to end on Feb. 20, brought a sizable contingent of Russian forces to neighboring Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north. The presence of the Russian troops raised concern that they could be used to sweep down on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.

The extension of the drills was announced by Belarusian Minister of Defense Gen. Viktor Khrenin on social media.

“The preliminary results of the completed joint operational exercise ‘Allied Resolve-2022,’ conducted as part of a comprehensive check of the response forces of the Union State, have concluded,” he said on Telegram.

“In connection with the increase in military activity near the external borders of the Union State [Russia and Belarus] and the aggravation of the situation in the Donbas, the Presidents of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation decided to continue checking the response forces of the Union State.”

Also on Feb. 20, shelling was reported in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. On Feb. 19, Ukraine reported that two soldiers were killed by separatists’ shelling. However, separatist leaders accused Ukraine of attacking their forces over the weekend.

Ukraine’s military confirmed to The Associated Press on Feb. 20 that it shut a key checkpoint leading to the Donbas area after it came under repeated shelling.

In a Twitter post on the morning of Feb. 20, Zelensky called on the eastern rebels and Ukraine’s forces to observe a ceasefire.

“We stand for intensifying the peace process. We support the immediate convening of the TCG and the immediate introduction of a regime of silence,” he wrote.

A member of Ukrainian Military Forces walks as they keep position on the front line with Russia-backed separatists, near Novolugansk, Ukraine, in the Donetsk region, on Feb. 17, 2022. Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian troops take part in a military drill outside the city of Rivne, Ukraine, on Feb. 16, 2022. Aris Messinis / AFP

Western officials again sounded the alarm that Moscow is readying for an invasion of Ukraine as more than 150,000 troops are reportedly stationed near the Ukrainian border. Recently, top White House officials said Russia would invade Ukraine within a few days—a prediction that didn’t materialize.

“They have all the capabilities in place, Russia, to launch an attack on Ukraine without any warning at all. No one is denying that Russia has all these forces in place,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told CNBC over the weekend. “The question is, will they launch an attack?”

Stoltenberg said “there is no certainty about” whether Russia will invade.

“NATO allies and the United States have the same assessment, that it’s a very high risk for a Russian attack on Ukraine,” he said.

Zelensky earlier called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to choose a place where the two leaders could meet to try to resolve the crisis. Russia has denied plans to invade, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 19 that Moscow won’t attack.

“Ukraine will continue to follow only the diplomatic path for the sake of a peaceful settlement,” Zelensky said on Feb. 19 at an international security conference in Munich. There was no immediate response from the Kremlin.

Putin on Feb. 19 called on Kyiv to “sit down at the negotiating table with representatives of the Donbas and agree on political, military, economic, and humanitarian measures to end this conflict,” according to Russian media outlets.

“The sooner this happens, the better,” he added.

On Feb. 19, the leaders of two breakaway regions in the Donbas ordered the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians and sent some of them to Russia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.