President Vladimir Putin has requested that 17,600 troops from the Ukrainian border return back to their bases. The reason for his request is simple: the training exercises meant to take place in that region have come to an end. However, the general opinion was that the presence of the Russian troops near the Ukrainian border was not a simple military exercise. It was interpreted as a threat to invade eastern Ukraine. Nonetheless, if Russia’s troops do leave the area, the threat disappears as well. Up to this point, NATO has not confirmed with certainty that the Russian troops began their withdrawal. The region has been tense since April, because of the uprising of separatist forces in the eastern part of Ukraine. The separatist leader declared independence from the government in Kiev. Tensions turned into violence in two regions of eastern Ukraine. According to the United Nations, this conflict has caused significant casualties: over 2,500 people were killed during bombings.
Later this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will meet in Milan at the Asia-Europe Meeting. It is believed that this is the main reason why Putin has ordered Russia to call its troops home. Another step forward is the fact that the Ukrainian emergency services will be allowed to enter the site where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed, back in July. Until now, rebels did not allow authorities from Kiev to enter and inspect the area where so many innocent lives had been lost. The negotiations conducted by the Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe facilitated the entry of Ukrainians at the crash site, in order to retrieve any belongings of the victims which may still be found at the site.
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Last month, Ukraine and Russia managed to agree upon a cease-fire, in Belarus. However, the attacks did not stop. New victims were reported last month as well, when a bus and a school were bombed. The rebels blamed the attack on Ukrainian troops, while Ukrainians denied the accusation and blamed the rebels. Ten civilians were killed during these attacks in Donetsk. The very next day, a worker for the Swiss Red Cross was killed when a shell got thrown near the International Committee of the Red Cross building.