“Russia could invade Ukraine at any time and could create a surprise pretext for an attack,” the United States said in a statement on Sunday.
Russia has more than 100,000 troops concentrated near Ukraine, which is not part of the Atlantic military alliance, and Washington – while keeping open diplomatic channels that have so far failed to alleviate the crisis – has repeatedly stated that it is imminent. .
Moscow denies any such plans and has accused the West of “hysteria”.
At the same time, German Chancellor Olaf Soltz called on Russia to de-escalate and warn of sanctions if Moscow invades Ukraine.
However, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck stressed that “we may be on the brink of war in Europe.”
In Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, said an invasion could begin “at any time.”
“We can not predict the exact day, but we have been saying for some time that we are on the verge of collapse,” Jake Sullivan told CNN.
U.S. officials said they could not confirm reports that Russia planned to invade on Wednesday.
Sullivan said Washington would continue to share with the world what it was learning to prevent Moscow from launching a surprise operation as a pretext for an attack.
Sullivan also added that the United States “would defend every inch of NATO territory and Russia, we believe, fully understands this message.”
For his part, US President Joe Biden spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and they agreed to continue “diplomacy” and “deterrence” against Russia.
Biden told Putin by telephone on Saturday that the West would respond decisively to any invasion and that such an attack would harm and isolate Moscow.
On the Ukrainian side, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Twitter that Kiev has so far received almost 1,500 tonnes of ammunition from allies delivered on 17 flights, including about 180 tonnes from the United States.
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