Russia is boosting its military buildup and encircling much of Ukraine despite Moscow's claims that it is withdrawing some troops, the United States and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.
"More Russian forces, not fewer, are on the (Ukrainian) border and they're moving concerningly into fighting positions," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
In Brussels, at a meeting of defense ministers from the alliance's 30 member states, Stoltenberg said, "We have heard the signs from Moscow about readiness to continue diplomatic efforts. But so far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground. On the contrary, it appears that Russia continues its military buildup."
Estonia's intelligence chief Mikk Marran claimed that Russia would launch a "limited" attack on Ukraine, including a missile bombardment, and occupy "key terrain."
"Right now, our assessment is that they would avoid cities with large populations, as it takes a lot of troops to control those areas," he told reporters. "But there is no clear understanding of what avenue the Russian troops might exploit."
U.S. and Ukrainian officials said they had not seen any evidence of a Russian pullback of some of the 150,000 troops deployed on the northern, eastern and southern borders of the onetime Soviet republic.
Rochan Consulting, an independent Poland-based defense consulting firm that tracks military movements via satellite images, said in a report that more Russian military trains had arrived near Ukraine since Moscow's announcement that it was sending some troops back to their home bases.
"There is no indication that troops are being withdrawn. In fact, it is the opposite," the report said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC's "Good Morning America" show, "Unfortunately there's a difference between what Russia says and does, and what we're seeing is no meaningful pullback."
"On the contrary, we continue to see forces, especially forces in the vanguard of any renewed aggression against Ukraine, continuing to be at the border, to mass at the border," he added.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, "We're in the window where we believe an attack could come at any time and that would be preceded by a fabricated pretext that the Russians use as an excuse to launch an invasion."
Rochan Consulting, an independent Poland-based defense consulting firm that tracks military movements via satellite images, said in a report that more Russian military trains had arrived near Ukraine since Moscow's announcement that it was sending some troops back to their home bases.
"There is no indication that troops are being withdrawn. In fact, it is the opposite," the report said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC's "Good Morning America" show, "Unfortunately there's a difference between what Russia says and does, and what we're seeing is no meaningful pullback."
"On the contrary, we continue to see forces, especially forces in the vanguard of any renewed aggression against Ukraine, continuing to be at the border, to mass at the border," he added.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, "We're in the window where we believe an attack could come at any time and that would be preceded by a fabricated pretext that the Russians use as an excuse to launch an invasion."