Putin’s statements met by skepticism

KIEV, Ukraine – After two months of piling pressure on the Ukrainian government, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday appeared to strike a conciliatory tone, calling on pro-Russia separatists to cancel a referendum on autonomy they’d set for Sunday and insisting that Russian troops have pulled away from Ukraine’s eastern border.

“We have been told that our troops by the Ukrainian border are a concern – we have withdrawn them,” Putin said. “They are now not near the border, but at locations where they conduct regular drills at ranges.”

After months of accusations that Putin was encouraging armed insurrection in the east, Ukrainians reacted with suspicion. In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there was “no evidence” that Putin had moved troops away from the border. Others pointed out that it was not the first time in recent weeks that Putin has made such a claim.

“We would certainly welcome a meaningful and transparent withdrawal of Russian military forces from the border,” Earnest said. “That’s something that we have sought for quite some time.”

Putin also appeared to distance himself from separatists in eastern Ukraine after speaking with Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose teams of advisers were held hostage for days in the east. Putin called for the separatists in Donestsk to postpone a Sunday referendum on forming an independent state, in order to ease pressure enough to allow dialogue to work.

“We are calling for southeast Ukraine representatives, supporters of federalization of the country, to postpone the May 11 referendum to create the necessary conditions for dialogue,” he said.

Earnest said the administration repeatedly has called the referendum illegitimate and illegal.

“So we don’t believe that this referendum should just be postponed, we believe it should be canceled,” Earnest said.

Putin said the coming May 25 Ukrainian elections was “a step in the right direction.”

He cautioned, however, that “it will not solve anything unless all of Ukraine’s people first understand how their rights will be guaranteed once the election has taken place.”