Nato says Russia is 'repositioning', not withdrawing troops from Kyiv

Vladimir Putin tells Italian leader the time is not right for a ceasefire in Ukraine

Ukrainian servicemen at a position along the front line north of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. AFP

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Russian troops are not withdrawing from Kyiv and northern Ukraine but merely regrouping and preparing for a further offensive, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

Mr Stoltenberg said Russia’s public statements could not be trusted as he became the latest western official to play down Moscow’s claim that it would scale back operations around the Ukrainian capital.

He said Russia planned to use some of its relocated forces to strengthen its offensive in the eastern Donbas region where it supports pro-Kremlin separatists in a long-running conflict with Ukrainian forces.

“According to our intelligence, Russian units are not withdrawing, but repositioning,” Mr Stoltenberg said at the launch of a Nato annual report on Thursday.

“At the same time, Russia maintains pressure on Kyiv and other cities, so we can expect additional offensive actions bringing even more suffering,” he said.

British military intelligence offered a similar assessment, saying a few Russian units had withdrawn from near Kyiv but that invading forces still held positions on either side of the city.

Heavy fighting is expected to continue in Kyiv’s suburbs in the coming days, said Britain’s Defence Ministry, which said Russian shelling and missile strikes had continued in Chernihiv despite a similar promise to reduce attacks there.

Five weeks into the war, western officials believe Russia has made faltering progress but is turning to the mercenary Wagner Group to shore up its forces and absorb some of its military losses.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address to the Dutch parliament on Thursday that news of bombings and missile strikes was starting to become routine as fighting continues with no obvious breakthroughs.

Nonetheless, President Vladimir Putin is not willing to support a ceasefire because he believes the conditions are not yet right, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Thursday after a conversation with the Russian leader.

Mr Draghi echoed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in saying he had extracted a promise from Mr Putin that European countries could still pay for gas imports in euros or dollars, rather than roubles as Moscow has been demanding.

The request for roubles is regarded by western powers as a way of evading the sanctions imposed by many Nato and other allied countries since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Mr Stoltenberg, who has spoken of the need for a rethink of Nato’s defence posture on its eastern flank, said the alliance’s security environment had “dramatically worsened” as a result of the Russian offensive.

A Ukrainian soldier fires his rifle from a trench at the front east of Kharkiv in the north of Ukraine, which continues to be shelled by Russian forces. AFP

A gas station on fire in Kharkiv after Russian ttack on the northern city. AFP

A medieval suit of armour 'stands guard' at a a Ukrainian checkpoint, on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv. AP Photo

Ukrainian refugees wait in line to cross the border into Poland at Shehyni. Reuters

Destroyed Russian armoured vehicles on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP Photo

A resident passes apartment buildings destroyed by Russian attacks in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, standing, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address the House of Representatives via video link at Parliament House in Canberra. Mr Zelenskyy appealed directly to Australian legislators for more help in the war against Russia, including armoured vehicles and tougher sanctions. AP

Fire lights up the sky east of Kharkiv, where Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian troops from a motorway outside the country's second-largest city. AFP

A destroyed Russian tank in the village of Lukianivka near Kyiv. AFP

Passengers arriving from Moscow at Manas International Airport, Bishkek, Kyrgyrzstan. Hundreds of thousands of citizens of former Soviet countries in Central Asia are facing difficult choices: shrinking work opportunities in Russia and wages in the weakened rouble versus a return to the homeland where they have family homes, but even fewer job prospects. AFP

Fire and smoke light up the sky east of Kharkiv as Ukrainian forces push back Russian troops from a motorway outside the country's second-largest city. AFP

A Ukrainian soldier shoots at the Russian positions not far from the capital Kyiv. EPA

A car marked with the English letter 'Z' is found destroyed at the central Ukrainian train station that was used as a Russian base in Trostyanets. Ukrainian forces said they had retaken the north-eastern town from the Russians. Getty Images

Rescue workers at the site of the regional administration building hit by Russian cruise missiles, in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Reuters

A dog looks at cars passing by on the road near a house painted with the colors of the Ukrainian flag, on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv. AP Photo

A soldier poses for the picture in Kyiv, Ukraine, while standing guard amid the destruction caused after shelling of a shopping center. AP Photo

A Ukrainian serviceman stands near a destroyed Russian tank in the north-eastern city of Trostianets. AFP

A worker pushes a cart past graves of Ukrainian soldiers who were killed in battle during Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv. Reuters

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows damaged apartment buildings and homes in Mariupol. AP

A resident takes photos of a destroyed Russian tank next to the railway station where the Russian forces were stationed, in Trostyanets, a town recaptured by the Ukrainian army. EPA

A rescuer clears the rubble of a warehouse containing more than 50,000 tons of deep-frozen food in the town of Brovary, north of Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, after it was destroyed by Russian shelling. AFP

A Ukrainian army vehicle carries a Russian tank in Trostyanets. AFP

Ukrainian soldiers carry a coffin during the funeral ceremony of a comrade in Odesa. EPA

A man walks with his dog near an apartment building damaged by shelling from fighting on the outskirts of Mariupol. AP Photo

Members of the Danish Parliament attend the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky's speech to the Danish Parliament via a video link, at the Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark. EPA

A satellite image shows crowds outside a Metro grocery store in Mariupol. Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opens Ukrainian-Russian talks in Istanbul. President Erdogan told the delegations that "both parties have legitimate concerns." AFP

Members of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps fire a howitzer at a position in the Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters

Ukrainian refugees are helped by volunteers upon their arrival at Amsterdam Central station by train from Berlin. AFP

Ukrainian soldiers ride an armoured people carrier through the town of Trostsyanets, about 400 kilometres east of Kyiv. AP Photo

Firefighters work amid the debris of residential houses that were destroyed by Russian shelling in a settlement outside Kharkiv. Reuters

President Joe Biden said that he is not advocating for regime change in Moscow after saying Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power." AP Photo

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a warehouse after it was hit by Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. More than half of Kharkiv's 1.4 million people have fled the city since Russia's invasion on February 24. Getty Images

Local residents pass by a destroyed Russian tank in the town of Trostyanets, east of capital Kyiv, Ukraine. The monument to the Second World War is seen in background. AP Photo

A pro-Russian troop service member walks near a destroyed apartment building in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

Mykhaylo, 8, who was taken away from his widowed mother along with his 9-year-old brother and 16-year-old sister, plays with a ball in the garden of a state shelter in Lviv. Reuters

Halyna Falko, 52, talks to reporters while looking at the destruction caused after a Russian attack inside her house near Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP Photo

Curtains flutter in the wind at a building that was damaged by shelling in a neighbourhood that has been largely abandoned and left without water, gas and heating, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters

People, mainly women and children, arrive at Przemysl on a train from Odesa in war-torn Ukraine in Przemysl, Poland. The Polish government has said it may spend €24 billion this year hosting refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, and is seeking more support from the European Union. Getty Images

A woman walks a dog past the so-called "people's installation to a Russian soldier" nicknamed the "polite people" created by residents in the backyard of their apartment building in the town of Podolsk, outside Moscow. AFP

The 154-page annual report said Mr Putin’s actions made clear that “his objectives are not limited to Ukraine”, as several Nato countries move to increase defence spending to face a newly hostile Russia.

Italy will reach the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product on its military in 2028, Mr Draghi said on Thursday. But he said there would be no increase spelled out in an upcoming economic forecast.

Latvia this week signed off plans to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent, while Germany, Denmark and Norway have all promised to raise their military budgets. The annual report showed Nato's overall spending rising for the seventh consecutive year.

Nato countries have ruled out sending troops beyond the alliance’s borders and intervening directly in Ukraine, for fear of provoking Russia into a wider European war.

Accepting that, Mr Zelenskyy is pushing for tougher sanctions on Russia and on Thursday called for sea ports to be closed to the country’s ships after the closure of Europe’s airspace to its planes.

General Sir Nick Parker, a former commander of UK land forces who has advised Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, said Nato had adopted a defensive position by putting a protective ring around its members but not being prepared to develop an “offensive counter-strategy to Putin”.

“Slightly controversially I suppose, I mean Nato’s been defeated, Nato’s bluff was called,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Mr Zelenskyy said in his speech to Dutch MPs that Ukraine needed shells, missiles, air defences and anti-tank weapons to fight off the Russian attacks.

In a separate address he said that Russian forces were building up in the Donbas and that new strikes were expected on the region.