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The United States and NATO have said Russia is still building up troops near Ukraine’s borders despite Moscow’s assurances of a troop withdrawal.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense announced that the units of the Southern Military District (SMD), which completed their participation in tactical exercises at the training grounds of the Crimean Peninsula, are marching to their permanent deployment points by rail.
However, according to Reuters, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that key Russian units are moving towards the border, not away from it.
“This is what Russia says and this is what Russia does. We do not see any withdrawal of troops, ”Blinken said in an interview with MSNBC. “We continue to see critical units moving towards the border, not away from it.”
A senior Western intelligence official said the risk of Russian aggression against Ukraine would remain high until the end of February, and Russia could still attack Ukraine “virtually without warning.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the movement of troops and tanks back and forth is not proof of their withdrawal.
“We do not see any withdrawal of Russian troops. And, of course, this is contrary to the message of diplomatic efforts,” Stoltenberg said before the alliance meeting in Brussels. “We see that they have increased the number of troops, and more troops are on the way. So there is no de-escalation yet.”
The Kremlin says NATO’s assessment is wrong. Russia’s ambassador to Ireland said that military forces in western Russia would return to their usual positions within three to four weeks.
Source: Rosbalt
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