White House says Russian invasion of Ukraine could ‘come at any point’
White House believes Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent: Jen Psaki warns there is an ‘extremely dangerous situation’ at the border ahead of Blinken’s trip to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky
Jen Psaki on Tuesday said Russia could launch attack on Ukraine ‘at any point’Talks to defuse the crisis last week made little headwaySince then, US officials have warned that Russia could launch ‘false flag’ strike It would set the stage for an invasion that Moscow could then blame on UkraineSecretary of State Blinken is due to meet the Ukrainian president on Wednesday
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The White House on Tuesday said it believed a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come at any time, as Press Secretary Jen Psaki warned of an ‘extremely dangerous situation’ at the border.
Her words came as Moscow bolstered the number of troops in the region, sending an unknown number of personnel to Belarus for major war games.
Talks between the West and Russia failed to ease tensions last week.
Now Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday before holding talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday in the latest attempt to defuse the crisis.
‘Our view is this is an extremely dangerous situation,’ said Psaki.
‘We’re now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine, and what Secretary Blinken is going to go do is highlight very clearly there is a diplomatic path forward.
‘It is the choice of President Putin and the Russians to make, whether they are going to suffer severe economic consequences or not.’
Ukrainian soldiers with the 56th Brigade maintain their positions in trenches in Pisky
Russian military vehicles arriving in Belarus are seen in this photograph distributed by the Belarus Ministry of Defense on Tuesday, ahead of joint exercises
White House Press Secretary said the situation at the Ukraine border was ‘extremely dangerous’ and that a Russian invasion could come ‘at any point’
The region has been on a knife-edge since the end of last year when Moscow moved as many as 100,000 troops, as well as tanks and missiles, close to the border with Ukraine.
Intelligence officials believe that Putin has not yet made up his mind to invade.
However, officials said last week that Russia had deployed agents trained in sabotage and urban warfare to launch a ‘false-flag’ attack on proxy forces, providing the pretext for invasion.
At the same time, it has stepped up social media campaigns portraying Ukraine as aggressors.
Russia has repeatedly denied that it is planning an invasion and instead demanded that NATO bar Ukraine from membership.
The United States and its allies have urged Russia to deescalate the situation by calling back the troops amassed near Ukraine.
Meanwhile the country’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said joint drills with Belarus would involve practicing a joint response to external threats.
Fomin didn’t say how many troops will be involved in the drills, according to the Associated Press, but mentioned that Russia will deploy a dozen Su-35 fighter jets and several air defense units to Belarus.
Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine from various directions, including from its ally Belarus.
Moscow has for weeks been massing tens of thousands of troops, tanks and artillery pieces along its eastern flank, sparking fears of an invasion, though the Kremlin has insisted it is merely a defence force (pictured, Russian forces currently massed in border regions)
Russian tanks of the Novorossiysk Guards mountain formation took part in maneuvers on Friday, further raising the temperature along the border with Ukraine where 100,000 Russian troops are massed
Tensions escalated at the end of last week after American officials claimed to have information that Moscow had deployed resources for a ‘false flag’ attack.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki warned of human rights violations and war crimes if diplomacy failed and the Russian government went ahead with its plans.
‘We have information that indicates Russia has already pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct a false flag operation in eastern Ukraine,’ she said.
‘The operatives are trained in urban warfare and using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia’s own proxy forces.’
She said it mimicked the playbook used when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, and included social media disinformation to show Kiev as the instigator of violence.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the intelligence was ‘very credible.’
The Kremlin quickly denied it was preparing a provocation. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reporting was based on ‘unfounded’ information, according to the TASS news agency.