The Russians can attack Ukraine “at any moment”, reiterated this Sunday (13) top US officials, the day after a phone call between US Presidents Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who had been seen with ” optimism”.
“There are no signs that Putin intends to ease tensions,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told Fox. “We believe that major military action could take place at any time,” he added.
Russia, which denies any intention of going to war, has since November concentrated more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine and has begun military maneuvers in Belarus and the Black Sea in recent days, effectively encircling its neighbor.
“For ten days, we’ve seen an acceleration of Russian troop reinforcements and their deployment closer to the border, which is why they could launch military action very, very quickly,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN. .
According to him, the offensive “could take place this week.”
“It is likely to start with heavy missile attacks and bombings,” followed by “ground troop movements,” he said.
Sullivan said, however, that it is still possible for Putin to choose the diplomatic route. “I’m not in his head,” he said.
Asked about the information that American intelligence would have discovered
Asked about the reservations expressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for whom the United States is too alarmist, Sullivan said Washington had decided to publicly share its analysis to “prevent Russia from taking Ukraine and the world by surprise”.
This Sunday (13), Biden spoke by phone with Zelensky about the concentration of Russian forces on the borders with Ukraine and they decided to insist on “diplomacy and deterrence”.
“The two leaders agreed on the importance of maintaining diplomacy and deterrence in response to the concentration of Russian military forces on the borders with Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement about the phone call, which lasted about 50 minutes.
The American president, however, reinforced to Zelensky what he had already said to Putin and “made it clear that the United States will respond quickly and decisively, along with its allies and partners, to any Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
