Washington's propaganda failure exposes its belligerent nature: China Daily editorial

After days of warnings from Western powers led by the United States that a war was "imminent" in Ukraine because Russia would invade the country "any day" — with the US even predicting Feb 16 as the date of a possible Russian "invasion" — the situation unfolded in a different direction on Tuesday the 15th, when Moscow announced some of its troops on the countries' border had started pulling back after drills.

As the situation has continued to evolve, it has further demonstrated how manipulatively intended the US' "apocalyptic" war predictions were. Actually, all the fears and worries about a military conflict in Europe have been whipped up by Washington orchestrating a "disinformation campaign".

Despite this, Moscow has repeatedly clarified that war, unless imposed on it, was not an option. On Tuesday, during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Sholz, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his resolve to "go down the negotiations track".

"We want to resolve this issue now, right now or in the near future, through negotiations, peaceful means," he said about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.

In contrast, the US has spared no efforts in continuing to beat the drums of war and stoking panic, by sending thousands of troops to support its European allies, ordering the evacuation of its embassy staff in Kyiv, and even claiming a Russian "invasion" was imminent.

In the words of Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, the US is seeking to turn war into a reality. "You are almost pulling for this. You want it to happen. You're waiting for it to happen."

It is wise for Russia to not fall into that trap, for a war with Ukraine would be too costly and unimaginable given its grave political, economic and military consequences. Invasion of a sovereign country would also not help Russia achieve any of its national strategic goals including keeping NATO away from its doorstep.

The withdrawal of Russian troops from the border reflects Russia's efforts to try to maintain peace in Europe, which serves the best interests of itself, Ukraine and the rest of Europe, despite the provocative expansionary moves of NATO.

Although US President Joe Biden insists that the Russian troops "remain very much in a threatening position", and "we are ready to respond decisively to Russian attack on Ukraine, which is still very much a possibility", Washington's clarion call of war has already been thoroughly discredited.

This is a failure for the warmongers in Washington and a victory for peace-loving people all across the world.