US, Europe urge West not to drop guard against Russia

LONDON: The leaders of the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy on Tuesday urged the West not to drop its guard against Russia after Moscow signalled it would scale down fighting around Kyiv and another Ukrainian city.

“We´ll see if they follow through,” Biden told reporters in Washington shortly after holding a phone call with the four key western European allies. “There seems to be a consensus that let´s just see what they have to offer.”

In a statement, the White House said the five leaders agreed to no let up in strong economic sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.“The leaders affirmed their determination to continue raising costs on Russia for its brutal attacks in Ukraine, as well as to continue supplying Ukraine with security assistance to defend itself,” the statement said.

In London, Prime Minister Boris Johnson´s Downing Street office said “they agreed there could be no relaxation of Western resolve until the horror inflicted on Ukraine is over.”

Russia´s announcement of a shift away from Kyiv and Chernigiv came after talks with Ukraine, more than a month into the conflict that has left thousands dead and forced millions more to flee.

Johnson echoed Western skepticism. “The prime minister underscored that we must judge Putin´s regime by their actions not their words,” the Downing Street statement said.

“Putin is twisting the knife in the open wound of Ukraine in an attempt to force the country and its allies to capitulate.” “The prime minister stressed to his fellow leaders that we should be unrelenting in our response,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, at least nine people were killed and 28 injured in a Russian missile strike on a regional government building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, prosecutors said Tuesday.

“Russia´s defence forces carried out a missile strike on the building of Mykolaiv state administration,” the prosecutor general´s office said on messaging app Telegram, citing investigators.

“According to information currently available, nine people have been killed and 28 have been injured,” the prosecutor´s office said. The prosecutor general´s office also said in their statement on Telegram that police and rescuers were working at the scene. In a video address to the Danish parliament earlier Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack and reported seven people died with 22 wounded. “The residents of Mykolaiv posed no threat to Russia. And despite all this, like all Ukrainians, they became the targets of Russian troops,” Zelensky said.

After a lull in the fighting that lasted several days, the attack on Tuesday morning surprised this city, which is home to half a million people in peacetime. Mykolaiv stands on the road to Odessa, Ukraine´s largest port in the south.

The front line in the region has recently shifted southeast to Mykolaiv, which is located near Kherson, the only major Ukrainian city that Russia claims to have taken under full control since the war started over a month ago.