The US on Wednesday said its “concern has not diminished an iota” after Moscow claimed it had pulled back some of its forces back from the Ukrainian border, as Estonia said Russian battle groups were approaching before a probable attack to occupy "key terrain" in Ukraine.
Russia announced on Tuesday that some troops were returning home after completing military drills in the Crimean peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, but the US and Nato remain on high alert.
“Our concern has not diminished an iota — in fact, our concern continues to grow,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday. He added that the US has yet to see de-escalatory efforts from Russia.
“In the absence of de-escalation, we've actually seen escalation. We have some more forces arriving at the border.”
During a call with reporters late on Wednesday, this assertion was further confirmed by a senior official.
“Yesterday, the Russian government said it was withdrawing troops from the border with Ukraine," said the official in a scheduled call to discuss Vice President Kamala Harris’s coming trip to Munich, Germany.
"They received a lot of attention for that claim, both here and around the world. But we now know it was false.
“In the last several days, Russia has increased its troop presence along the border [by] as many as 7,000 troops, with some arriving today."
There have been sightings of additional armoured vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital moving towards Ukraine’s borders, Britain's defence intelligence chief Jim Hockenhull said in a rare public statement.
Mr Price said a window for diplomacy is still open and suggested Secretary of State Antony Blinken would be open to meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “at the appropriate moment".
Mr Blinken said Russia continues to move troops towards the border despite Moscow publishing a video that it says shows vehicles and artillery units leaving Crimea.
“There's what Russia says and then there's what Russia does. And we haven't seen any pullback of its force,” Mr Blinken told MSNBC.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki added: “We are watching very closely what steps they are taking, but they remain amassed in a threatening way at the border.”
Estonian intelligence is aware of around 10 Russian battle groups of troops moving toward the Ukrainian border, where it estimates about 170,000 soldiers are already deployed, said Mikk Marran, director general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service.
The attack would include missile bombardment and the occupation of "key terrain", he added.
“If Russia is successful in Ukraine, it would encourage it to increase pressure on the Baltics in the coming years," he said. “The threat of war has become main policy tool for Putin.”
President Joe Biden spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.
"They reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and underscored the importance of continued transatlantic co-ordination on diplomacy and deterrence measures and the reinforcement of Nato's eastern flank if Russia further invades Ukraine," according to a White House readout of the call.
Mr Blinken will travel to Germany this week for the Munich Security Conference, which begins on Friday, to discuss Russian aggression towards Ukraine, the State Department confirmed. US Vice President Kamala Harris is also scheduled to attend.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday met his Nato counterparts in Brussels, where senior leaders in the alliance demanded a further withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine.
In a rare moment of congressional bipartisanship, Democratic and Republican members of Congress pledged to work together if Russia invades Ukraine.
Speaking from the Senate floor, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the president would have “overwhelming bipartisan support” to use his existing executive powers to sanction Russia “in the event of conflict".
Additional reporting by Joyce Karam and agencies
