{"id":68985,"date":"2022-02-17T13:53:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T13:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/17\/russia-doesnt-appear-to-be-leaving-ukraine-border-secdef-warns\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:01:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:01:37","slug":"russia-doesnt-appear-to-be-leaving-ukraine-border-secdef-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/02\/17\/russia-doesnt-appear-to-be-leaving-ukraine-border-secdef-warns\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia doesn\u2019t appear to be leaving Ukraine border, SECDEF warns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With \u201cRussian troops right up to NATO\u2019s doorstep,\u201d Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin<\/a> said Thursday, there is little faith in the U.S. government that Presiden Vladimir Putin has decided against further incursion into Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an announcement earlier this week that some Russian troops would head home after completing an exercise in Belarus, there was some hope from the international community that the rest of troops amassed on Ukraine\u2019s border<\/a> would start to draw down. That hasn\u2019t happened, Austin said, speaking at a press conference during a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see some of those troops edge closer to that border,\u201d he said. \u201cWe see them fly in more combat and support aircraft. We see them sharpen their readiness in the Black Sea. We even see them stocking up their blood support supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While troops and equipment have flowed to the border for months, increased logistical support offers a strong sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know, I was a soldier myself not that long ago. And I know firsthand that you don\u2019t do these sorts of things, for no reason,\u201d Austin said. \u201cAnd you certainly don\u2019t do them if you\u2019re getting ready to pack up and go home. So we and our allies will stay vigilant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing shelling Thursday in Ukraine\u2019s Russia-controlled Donbass region, Austin didn\u2019t say who was responsible, but warned that an event like it could be a pretext for a Russia to commence and invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you know, we\u2019ve said for some time that the Russians might do something like this in order to justify a military conflict,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll be watching this very closely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the White House Thursday, President Joe Biden said that there is a \u201cvery high\u201d risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and that could happen within \u201cseveral days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoing Austin\u2019s remarks, Biden said the United States saw no signs of a claimed Russian withdrawal of forces along its border with Ukraine. He said the U.S. has \u201creason to believe\u201d that Russia is \u201cengaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told reporters in Washington: \u201cEvery indication we have is they\u2019re prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a handful of positive signals from Russia that lowered the temperature in the crisis earlier in the week, the pendulum appeared to be swinging in the opposite direction again. With an estimated 150,000-plus troops massed near Ukraine, the Kremlin offered to keep pursuing diplomatic solutions \u2014 an overture the NATO chief welcomed, even as he and others warned that the U.S.-led alliance has still seen no sign of the military withdrawal that Moscow announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have seen the opposite of some of the statements. We have seen an increase of troops over the last 48 hours, up to 7,000,\u201d said British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace ahead of a meeting Thursday of the western alliance in Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That squared with what a U.S. administration official said a day earlier<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey even called Russia\u2019s claim to be withdrawing troops \u201cdisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the West warned the threat of invasion remains high, no attack materialized Wednesday, as some had feared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moscow said several times this week that some forces are pulling back to their bases, but it gave virtually no details that would allow for an independent assessment of the scope and direction of the troop movement, and Western leaders quickly cast doubt on those statements. On Thursday, NATO allies knocked down the Russian assertions again \u2014 and warned that they are ready to counter any aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe consequences of this mass buildup \u2013 nearly 60% of Russia\u2019s land combat forces on the border of a sovereign nation \u2013 will get you the opposite effect,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are deadly serious,\u201d he added, \u201cand we\u2019re going to face the threat that is currently being posed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already the alliance has moved troops and military equipment into Eastern Europe \u2014 in a display of resolve of meant to deter any Russian aggression and underline its intent to defend NATO\u2019s eastern members, in the unlikely event that they too become a target.<\/p>\n\n\n\t