US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was concerned that Russia might take aggressive action against Ukraine as early as this week, despite Moscow's announcement that it had withdrawn some of its forces from the Ukrainian border, the Voice of America reported.
“We are deeply concerned that Russia could take action against Ukraine as early as this week,” Blinken said in an interview with French television.
“All we see is the deployment of Russian troops around Ukraine, from all sides Ukraine, leads us to this conclusion,” continued the head of American diplomacy.
“Instead of de-escalation, Russia is escalating, introducing more and more forces,” he said. “And we are deeply concerned.”
Some units from Russian military districts adjacent to Ukraine are returning to their permanent deployment locations after the end of exercises, Russia's defence ministry said Tuesday.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted the military as saying that while large-scale exercises across the country continue, some units from the Southern and Western military districts have completed their tasks and have started to return to bases.
Russia has concentrated more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, raising fears of a possible invasion, especially since joint exercises with Belarus, scheduled for 10-20 February, mean Ukraine is almost completely surrounded by the Russian military.
Blinken noted that the diplomatic route is still open.
“We are doing everything possible to convince Russia that it should follow the diplomatic path, the path of dialogue, in order to resolve all existing differences peacefully, but if it decides to resort to aggression, we are fully prepared for this, and we will act in close coordination with all our European allies and partners,” Blinken said.
Asked whether Russia could attack Ukraine on Wednesday, as predicted by some media, Blinken said: “Unfortunately, this is quite possible, because Putin has gathered everything necessary for the implementation of aggression against Ukraine. We see more and more Russian troops surrounding Ukraine, over 100,000 troops. This is extremely worrisome, including what is happening with the deployment of troops in Belarus, north of Ukraine.”
According to Blinken, Russia has no reason to behave in this way.
"We need to consider this in a historical context. This has happened before, in 2014, with the annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine. Knowing this history, we are very concerned when we see what is happening near the borders of Ukraine,” he concluded.
