The White House is coordinating furiously with European allies and partners in an attempt to stave off a Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the Kremlin "continues to add" to the military formations aligned on its neighbor’s border, per U.S. officials, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Russia is adding "robust" combined arms capabilities, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Monday. "That means not just infantry or tracked vehicles, but artillery and long-range fires, and air and missile defense, as well as special operations," Kirby said. "He has a full suite available to him, and it continues to grow every day, including just over the last two days." 

President Joe Biden sought to project indivisible unity with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a meeting at the White House, while U.S. officials have warned that an offensive could be launched "any day now".

The move came just hours after French President Emmanuel Macron met with Russia's Putin in Moscow in an effort to diffuse the situation.

“If Russia makes a choice to further invade Ukraine we are jointly ready,” Biden said standing beside Chancellor Scholz, “and all of NATO is ready.”

“Germany's completely reliable, completely, totally, thoroughly reliable,” he said in a press conference. “I have no doubt about Germany at all.” 

Responding to a reporter's question whether if Berlin was committed to canceling the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the face of a Russian aggression against Ukraine, Chancellor Scholz said in German "you can be sure that there won't be any measures in which we have a differing approach."

"We will act together jointly” - he added, reiterating his message in English, “We will be united, we will act together”

"We see the number of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border, and that is a serious threat to European security.  And this is why it is important that we act together, that we stand together, and that we do what is necessary together,"  Scholz added.

Bank at the Pentagon, officials worry that it's not just the number of troops that Putin has placed in the region, "but the capabilities he is adding".

"We could not say with specificity now, a) that [Putin] made a final decision one way or another, or b) if he does, what it's going to be," Kirby said.

"But with each passing day, he gives himself a lot more options from a military perspective."

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.

Source - Turan.az

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08.02.2022 09:28