Russian troops once again mass on Ukraine's border, but officials and experts say that this time is different — and there are several clues giving them genuine concern that the current gambit by President Putin might be for real.
Officials and experts say that this time is different — and there are several clues giving them genuine concern that the current gambit bymight be for real, and the start of a conflict that could drag in Europe and even the U.
S. itself. Putin has deployed more than 90,000 troops along Russia’s border with Ukraine, matching the force that he. But whereas those troops maneuvered in open daylight, now they have mostly been far less showy, moving under the cover of darkness. And Moscow's rhetoric has noticeably hardened in recent months, saying it will not accept what it sees as a deepening of ties between Ukraine and the West. “Moscow is so positioned that they can move with very little warning,” said John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who is now a senior director at the Atlantic Council, which describes itself as a nonpartisan think tank. “They’re certainly threatening. And they’re in a position that if they want to, they can do it.” Satellite images released Wednesday show the large presence of Russian ground forces on the northern edge of the Russian town of Yelnya.outside Putin’s inner circle know what he’s planning. Analysts say this could be another attempt to, and a warning to the West not to meddle in the Kremlin's strategic and spiritual backyard. But some reckon war is far from impossible. “We’re deeply concerned by evidence that Russia has made plans for significant aggressive moves against Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday in Sweden ahead of a meeting of the the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, an international security organization. “We don’t know whether President Putin has made the decision to invade,” he added. “We do know that he’s putting in place the capacity to do so in short order should he so decide.” A day earlier, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia would pay a “high price” if it invaded. Blinken is scheduled to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday at the sidelines of the OSCE meeting in Stockholm. Blinken is also meeting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
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