Ukrainian crisis: de-escalation or bluff?

What does Vladimir Putin want? This is THE big question that all Westerners are asking themselves in this Ukrainian crisis that has been in the news for several weeks.
Certainly, Moscow announced this Tuesday, February 15, the withdrawal of its troops to the border. A glimmer of hope for the defenders of a diplomatic resolution of the conflict, which comes after the official visits of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the Kremlin.
But caution is called for as Washington indicates that Russia is strengthening its military presence on the border and that the Donbass has seen a serious increase in tensions since yesterday, Thursday 17 February. To the point that NATO is also strengthening its presence in the region… The only certainty is that the crisis is far from over!