As Ukraine tension accelerates and Kamala Harris departs Europe, Russia extends troop exercises
MUNICH, Germany — With tens of thousands of Russian troops canceling withdrawal plans near Ukraine’s northern frontier, and as tensions intensified in the country’s eastern Donbas region, Western and Russian leaders continued to engage in a high-stakes dance Sunday mixing equal parts diplomatic bickering and military puffery — but with little sign that their efforts could successfully forestall the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.
In the east, where the Ukrainian government has been mired for years in a stalemate against Russia-installed separatists, observers reported barrages of shelling across the cease-fire line established between the belligerents in 2015. And in a step designed to bolster Moscow’s narrative of an impending Ukrainian onslaught on the separatist enclaves, separatist authorities on Sunday suspended leisure, cultural, entertainment and educational events until further notice. Earlier
